Good Profits for Chime's Insight Arm

CIE, Chime's Insight and Engagement group, has reported an 18% increase in operating income in the first half of the year, up from £3.9m to £4.6m, while operating profit rose 148% from £400k to £900k during the period.

The division includes agencies Opinion Leader Research, Facts International, acefieldwork, CaucusWorld, Naked Eye, Brand Democracy, Tree, and recently formed digital research business Watermelon Research, which is already profitable. During the first half of the year, CIE margin has improved from 9.1% to 19.0%.

Christopher Satterthwaite (pictured), Group CEO of Chime Communications, said the interim results show the division is operating very well under the stewardship of CIE CEO Crispin Beale. 'CIE is going from strength to strength, developing new services, bringing in experienced new people and servicing clients' evolving needs above all else,' Satterthwaite added.

In its interim statement issued earlier, Chime said that all areas of the Insight and Engagement division are now profitable, and it described growth as 'strong', with good future prospects as new services and expertise are introduced into the management plans.

Overall for the group, interim results for the six months ended 30th June 2012 included a 19% increase in operating income to £73.7m from £55.3m in 2011, while operating profit increased 66% from £7.8m to £11.3m.

This morning, Chime shares were up 1.3%.

Web site: www.cie.uk.com .