Cello Reports 'Excellent' Half Year

Insight and marketing services group Cello has had what it describes as 'an excellent half year', with revenue up 9.4% to £78.3m, and a 14.8% rise in gross profits to £39.5m.

For its Cello Health arm - which comprises Insight, Consulting, Communications and Consumer units - reported H1 gross profit of £19.7m, up 13.4%, while headline operating profit increased to £4.2m from £3.7m in H1 2013.

Cello said the division's overall client spending patterns continued to be 'robust', and with a focus on expanding its presence in the US marketing, it is planning expansion in Chicago and San Francisco.

During the period, the group's other operating division Cello Signal - previously known as Cello Consumer and now encompassing social media and mobile research, and digital communications services - saw segmental gross profit rise 15.9% to £19.4m, while headline operating profit increased to £1.5m from £1.2m a year earlier. Earlier this year, its social media intelligence division Pulsar launched a customer care and publishing platform called FLOW and a social media enterprise analytics tool called TEAM. The division now has more than 60 licensed clients.

Group CEO Mark Scott (pictured) said in a statement: 'Both Cello Health and Cello Signal have performed strongly during the first six months and the business continues to expand globally in line with its stated strategy. The Board remains confident of meeting full year expectations.'

Web sites: www.cellohealth.com and www.cellosignal.com .