Our topline results reflect the simple fact that 2013 is an odd-numbered year, and the world's biggest sporting events take place on alternate even-numbered years. It was expected that the performance of our sports marketing division CSM Sport & Entertainment would dip between the London games and 2014, the year of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and above all, the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Other than CSM Sport & Entertainment, each division delivered strong growth in profits during 2013, a Group-wide performance that demonstrates growing momentum across all of the sectors in which we operate.

Divisional overview
Our advertising and marketing services division, The VCCP Partnership, included two Agency-of-the-Year performances, with VCCP Group carrying off the coveted Agency of the Year award from Campaign magazine, and our specialist financial services agency, Teamspirit, similarly acclaimed by the Financial Services Forum.

The awards recognised strong new business performance, but also consistently excellent creative output that shows how well the group is positioned to deliver the ‘content-led' campaigns that clients increasingly demand. VCCP Content has been one of our most successful start-ups in Chime history, Teamspirit has delivered acclaimed campaigns for Aviva and Barclays and, VCCP's commercially astute creativity continues to deliver impressive results for easyJet, comparethemarket.com and O2, with the O2 work recognised as Campaign magazine's Campaign of the Year.

Elsewhere the re-focusing of Chime's divisions during the last few years is delivering promising returns. In only its second full year of operation, Open Health has now grown to encompass more than 200 specialists in healthcare communications and market access. Its data-driven approach and focus on science-based communication fit the demand for greater accountability from healthcare spend and have generated strong growth that is evenly spread across the UK and Europe. Chime Insight & Engagement continues to grow, with the great success of its digital arm Watermelon playing a key role in delivering strong, sustainable performance.

Meanwhile the Good Relations Group's rejuvenated offer, helping brands to develop and communicate the social purpose that consumers increasingly demand, has delivered good growth built around clients such as Unilever, TalkTalk and Barclays. We welcomed Jackie Brock-Doyle as the Group's new CEO, working alongside Kevin Murray as Chairman, and have strengthened our board with specialist expertise to lead the development of the business, as awareness of the active benefits of social responsibility enter the communications mainstream.

Strategic gains in sports marketing
During the year, CSM Sport & Entertainment completed two major acquisitions that represent significant advances for our global sports marketing offer. The arrival of JMI under its CEO Zak Brown gives us both a dominant position in motorsport and a firm foothold in the valuable US market. With its immense global and US audiences and its annual cycle, motorsport also adds an important element to the division's business model: it helps to even out the variation in performance between odd and even years, and aligns us with a sport that touches every rapid growth market in the shape of F1. We are pleased to announce that in addition to continuing as CEO of JMI, Zak will now lead Chime's global business development efforts as part of the team led by CSM Sport & Entertainment Executive Chairman, Lord Sebastian Coe.

Our acquisition of People Marketing in Shanghai brings another valuable addition to our global management team in the form of Irene Cheung, whilst providing a strong base for the growth of our sponsorship business in Asian markets.

Broadening our business in innovation
The breadth of good performances across Chime in 2013 testifies to the broad, sustainable base that our business already enjoys. The acquisitions of JMI and People Marketing will help to broaden the growth opportunities for our flagship sports marketing division. However, our commitment to building broader momentum for our business does not end here. Chime has set an internal target that 10% of our annual profits should ideally come from businesses founded within the last three years. This commitment to continual innovation is one of the best guarantees of broad-based, sustainable growth in the future. It has already delivered impressive launches such as VCCP Content, Watermelon and The EarthWorks, the new digital arm of Open Health. With the support of our start-up incubator, Chime Ventures, we expect to see similar success stories on an on-going basis. We are also committed to developing the next generation of business leaders within the Group through the activity of our youth board, Chime Innovate.

Expanding our global footprint
Alongside our commitment to business innovation, the expansion of our divisional offerings to relevant new markets remains a key theme of Chime's strategy. We have made significant progress this year with the continued growth of Open Health, the good performances delivered by VCCP's businesses in Spain and Australia, and above all, the successful expansion of CSM Sport & Entertainment to Brazil, China and the US. The increase in our international reach not only provides access to the country that will dominate the sporting calendar in 2014 and 2016, but to countries where the potential of sports marketing is enormous in any year. It is one of Chime's KPIs that 50% of our profits should come from overseas businesses within the next three years, and we are firmly on course to achieve this target.

Leveraging opportunities across the Group
Taking full advantage of our broader global reach will require Chime companies to be alive to the opportunities that inevitably emerge. We are determined to capitalise on the opportunity to be more than the sum of our parts, and we have made working with clients through more than one company a key focus. There has been notable progress in this area, particularly from Open Health, which shares more clients within the division than any other part of our Group. We expect to make further progress in this area during the coming year.

Outlook for 2014
For the reasons outlined, our prospects for 2014 are very positive. The position that we have built in the Brazilian market positions us very well for the FIFA World Cup, the major sporting event of the year. Our agencies have already conducted significant work around the Winter Olympics in Sochi and will also be involved in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Yet the reasons for optimism go beyond the natural rises and falls of the sporting cycle. CSM Sport & Entertainment's strategic acquisitions have provided powerful opportunities for growth on an annual basis, and the continued strong performance of all Chime communication divisions puts the future of the group on a strong and sustainable footing.

Christopher Satterthwaite
Chief Executive

26 March 2014