STRANGE
DEVELOPMENTS IN TABLES THIS TERM
“All
change” seems to be the order of the day among the
top financial public relations firms this quarter,
with widespread movements in many of the tables
opposite.
In the most client table, Financial Dynamics has
asserted its authority over the chasing pack, with
a strong showing over the summer.
After having to briefly share the much-coveted top
spot last quarter with Buchanan Communications,
it has gained a solid nine clients over the past
three months. It can count Bell, Bizzbuild.com and
Intercare as new clients in its 131 total.
The biggest loss of clients was at Square Mile this
quarter. It has shed 24 clients lowering its total
to 67 and its position to sixth. Rather than a rationalisation
of clients at the PR firm, the 24 clients were removed
at the request of Square Mile.
On the face of it there were some strange developments
in the client profit table in this survey. Brunswick,
despite only having a four-client reduction, saw
profits from its retained clients down by over £4
billion, (a figure more than the combined client
profit total of the bottom five PR firms). The situation
at Brunswick is not as worrying as it first appears
and can be attributed to lower results from existing
clients as opposed to losing big contracts. Mothercare,
for example, saw profits down over £400m in the
year to April.
As mentioned in the client number
table, Square Mile saw the biggest reductions among
any of the top-spin doctors. In the client profit
table, however, it has gone up two places, due to
its remaining clients more than tripling profits
to £770m. Client Redbus is typical, turning a £10.3m
loss into a £0.8m profit in its last reported year.
In the two growth tables, College Hill has again
asserted its dominance and now heads up both. A
clue to its success is the fact that its client
list contains 33 AIM listed companies, 40 per cent
of its total. It added Inventive Leisure and Poptanes
Group to its books over the summer. Going in the
other direction were Binns & Co. It dropped to fourth
in terms of earnings growth and fifth in profit
growth.
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