Cello issues profits warning following the loss of two contracts
Marketing services network Cello has issued a profits warning as it forecasts that its pre-tax profits are likely to be down on previous forecasts.
The group, which owns Tangible Group, has said that it has traded solidly’ in line with the expectations of the board of the first six months of 2011, with over 5% growth in pre-tax headline profits.
Despite this, news of the loss of a ‘single retail research contract’ and ‘a second smaller retail client’ which was placed into administration over the last week will impact its figures.
The group has taken ‘immediate action’ to reduce the costs associated with the two contracts and will reduce staff numbers as a result, and will be impacted by around £500,000 it is claimed.
"Based on the group's positive trading in other areas during the first half of the year, and its strong current pipeline of client activity, the group may be able to mitigate this impact,” a statement added.
The group also revealed that over the past six months, Tangible had won ‘significant new business’ with clients such as Endsleigh Insurance, Macmillan Cancer Care, Blue Cross, Friends of the Earth, Clic Sargent, Keesing Media Group, Damart, Birdseye, Lucozade (GSK), Johnson and Johnson , Kimberly Clark, Unilever, Ernst & Young, AstraZeneca, Nike Foundation, Camelot, Reckitt Benckiser, Expedia, Rayban (Luxottica Group), Coleman, Philips, Halifax Share Dealing, Hiscox, Fidelity, JP Morgan, British Heart Foundation, Chelsea FC, VSO, BT, The Post Office,and Jacques Vert.