Revenue performance was weighed down by a 6.8% negative currency effect, as well as a “scope effect”.

The pattern was similar for the first nine months of the year: revenue was down 4.3% to €1.2bn, due to a 3.8% negative currency effect, caused by the rise in value of the Euro, and “a negative scope effect of 0.5% arising from partial withdrawals from peripheral countries (such as Portugal and Greece) and the sale of a loss-making LA-based film script evaluation business to its management”.

EMEA revenue for the nine months to September was €541.1m, down 2.3%; Americas revenue was €482.8m, down 4.8%; while Asia Pacific revenue was €198.4m, down 8.2%.

Looked at by business line, media, content and technology research recorded the steepest decline in revenues, down 11.6% to €121.2m – however it also boasted the most robust organic growth rate, 2.5%, of all the divisions.

Advertising research was down 5.3% to €199m; marketing research fell 1.9% to €628.7m; opinion and social research declined 7.5% to €112.2m; and customer and employee relationship management research was down 4.2% to €161.2m.