International marketing group MSQ is on track to deliver its most successful year to date after reporting 35% year-on-year revenue growth and EBITDA up 66% in its H1 2021 results.
The group combines its multi-disciplinary group proposition with its ten specialist agencies, based in 13 offices around the world, including The Gate, Walk-In Media, MBAstack, twentysix and Smarts.
The results, which cover the half year ending August 21, saw it record 30% like-for-like revenue compared to the previous year, excluding revenue following the acquisition of MBA; group revenue hit £42.6m and EBITDA reached £5.8m.
The H1 figures do not include any contribution from Brave Spark, the creative production studio which the group acquired last month.
MSQ chief executive Peter Reid said: “Our agile, client-centric model has helped us to continue the momentum that’s been built across MSQ over the past few years. We have built an ambitious, joined-up, truly international group with diverse talent and skillsets and are increasingly seeing clients embrace this model.
“These results are much more than a ‘Covid bounce’. We performed resiliently throughout 2020 and that gave us a platform to achieve significant growth in the first half of this year. It’s an extremely pleasing performance that will allow us to keep the momentum going throughout the second half of the year and beyond.”
MSQ has made a number of key investments this year to continue its ambitious growth plans. The business took ownership of a new London HQ, based in Covent Garden, and brought its integrated proposition to North America, with Deloitte’s Aaron Lang and Justin Cox joining a newly created regional team.
The group also invested heavily in its ESG agenda. Already one of the first global marketing groups to be carbon negative, MSQ announced its intention to become a B-Corp in 2022.
The business has already invested in a series of initiatives to reach a new goal of cutting emissions per head by a further 50% by 2024, signing up to The Million Tree Pledge, implementing a Staff Renewable Energy Scheme and implementing Science Based Targets.
MSQ’s new business team also put in the hours, securing cross-group wins such as Cancer Research UK, Visit Britain and AXA Investment Managers.
Related stories
Former Kantar Euro chief joins MSQ’s expansion drive
Creative production studio Brave Spark joins MSQ fold
MSQ heads Stateside as expansion drive gathers pace
MSQ sees off Covid nightmare to reveal record results
MSQ fires up green push with chief sustainability officer
MSQ buys independent MBA and merges it with Stack
MSQ targets B2B bonanza with launch of global agency
MSQ opens green agency and becomes CO2 negative
