LONDON (ShareCast) - Advertising agency M&C Saatchi hiked its dividend by a tenth after delivering record annual revenues and profits in 2013.

The firm, founded by brothers Maurice and Charles Saatchi in 1995, sold a 75.1% stake in Walker Media in November 2013 for £36m.

Pro-forma headline revenue, which assumes Walker Media was owned for the whole year, was up 5% at £177.4m in 2013, helped by contracts with existing customers and new client wins including Land Rover, O2, RBS, General Electric and Pernod Ricard.

From a regional perspective, the company said results were boosted by strong growth in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa and the Americas, offset slightly by declines in Asia and Australasia.

Pre-tax profit advanced 8% to £18.6m. Meanwhile, the dividend was lifted by 10% to 5.45p per share.

"2013 was another year of outstanding progress for M&C Saatchi. Our proven strategy of winning new business and starting new businesses continues to deliver with the group producing record revenue and profits,” said Chief Executive David Kershaw.

“The strategic sale of 75% of Walker Media, and the current strong performance across the global network positions us well for the future,” he said.

The stock was down 1% at 294p by 13:45.

BC

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