Kadence posts growth, despite second-half challenges

Revenue for the year ended 30 June came in at $11.3m, compared with $10.4m the prior year. Growth was weighted to the first-half, where sales were up 40% to $7.8m.

Group chairman Simon Everard said: “Following an exceptionally solid start, the second half of the year was slower than expected due to the drop-off in international data collection projects from US agencies. However, revenue generated by our insight division continued its strong growth across all offices.”

Insight revenue, which accounts for around 80% of Kadence’s business was up 20% for the year, while data collection revenue was flat.

Sales growth by country was a mixed picture, with the UK, Indonesia and Malaysia all reporting double-digit increases – up 40%, 89% and 45% respectively – while India and Singapore were down by around 2% and the US was flat.

Everard said: “Some offices did experience a challenging year due to external economic factors which resulted in significantly reduced corporate marketing spend in key sectors. These operations, however, have maintained close working relationships with existing clients and have seen activity increase in the last few months from both current and new relationships, indicating green shoots for the coming year.”

Five months into the new financial year, Everard said the group had already achieved 65% of last year’s sales. While acknowledging a lingering uncertainty as to the timing of any economic recovery – particularly in the UK – Everard said: “If things stay as they are we are pretty confident going forward.”