Over the last 15 months, I have been able to visit every one of the Chime companies worldwide. It has been a great experience and as I've toured our operations I have been hugely impressed by the skills, creativity and professionalism that I have encountered. This Group has extraordinarily talented people, a wonderful client base and excellent international reach. It provides a great foundation, and the developments that have taken place during the year leave us poised for what we believe is a very exciting period in our growth.

Revitalising the Group Board
2013 saw nothing short of a revitalisation of Chime's Group Board, with the introduction of three Non-Executive Directors embedding the digital, brand and entrepreneurial experience that we believe is essential to helping this business achieve what it is capable of.

As Vice President of eBay Marketplaces for the UK & Greater Europe, Clare Gilmartin led its transformation from second-hand auction hub to leading retail site; Vin Murria, named Woman of the Year in the 2012 Cisco Everywoman Technology Awards, is CEO of Advanced Software Group plc, the AIM-listed business that she founded in 2008; Martin Glenn is a leading figure in the UK's FMCG landscape, CEO of United Biscuits and previously CEO of Iglo Frozen Food and Company President for Pepsico in UK and Ireland. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome each of them to Chime and look forward to working with them closely as we move this Group forward.

Richard Alston and Catherine Biner Bradley both left the Board during 2013. Paul Richardson, a Non-Executive Director since 1997, also resigned from the Board in March 2014. We are grateful for the contributions that all three individuals made during their time as Directors.

Performance in 2013
Chime's businesses performed well during 2013. The effects of the global sports cycle were felt in our sport marketing business, in the year following the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London and before the 2014 Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games and FIFA World Cup in Brazil. However, there was strong growth across our marketing communications, healthcare and research divisions. Highlights from the year included:

• an excellent performance from the Chime Insight & Engagement Group, with strong growth in revenues and profitability that amounted to the most successful year in the division's history;
• a strong new business performance from the Good Relations Group, which supported the continued development of our ‘Power of Good' proposition; and
• twin ‘Agency of the Year' performances from VCCP and Teamspirit that powered an increase in profitability of more than 50% for the VCCP Partnership.

Acquisition of JMI
Our acquisition of the US-based, global motorsports agency JMI represented another highly significant development for Chime. We have gained a complementary presence in sports with a huge global following and powerful influence within the US marketplace, and in Zak Brown we have acquired another valuable member of our already strong executive team.

WPP shareholding
At the time of writing there remains uncertainty over WPP's intention regarding its current shareholding in Chime. We will issue updates to the market and via the Chime website once more information becomes available.

Future prospects
Future prospects for Chime are strong. We remain one of the fastest-growing companies in our sector with healthily diverse income streams and a fascinating mix of clients across the world. We have strong governance, a top-quality board and a strong executive team, and as a Group we combine the ability to handle the needs of large multinationals and small entrepreneurial clients alike. The breadth of our offering makes us nimble. However, there is still opportunity to be exploited in leveraging our strong client relationships more widely across our businesses. Over the coming year, we expect to continue to develop in strong growth areas whilst taking greater advantage of these cross-selling opportunities.

Lord Davies of Abersoch
Chairman

26 March 2014