Total revenue for the period was up 14.2% from €207.3m to €236.9m as clients “married their actions to their words” and started committing cash to research projects.

Revenue in Europe was up 3% to €106.5m, by 26% in North America to €76.7m, by 20% in Latin America to €26.3m and by 27% in Asia Pacific/Middle East to €27.4m.

By business sector, advertising research revenue rose 17% to €52.4m and marketing research revenue was up 13% to €102.8m. Media research revenue jumped 36.5% to €25.3m and customer and employee relationship management sales were up 8% to €23.4m. Lastly, opinion and social research revenue rose 4% to €23.4m.

On an organic basis growth was 6% – ahead of the target of between 3% and 5% that Ipsos has set for the year.

Ipsos noted that “one swallow does not make a summer” but said it was confident in its ability to return to “significant and profitable” growth throughout 2010.

In a statement, the firm said: “The prevailing uncertainty makes it impossible to confirm that the rate of growth at Ipsos will be ahead of the targets the company set at the beginning of the year. We would, however, be disappointed if the company did not confirm the good figures for the first few months of the year over the remaining quarters.”