Ebiquity equity in ecstasy on impressive profitability

Ebiquity, the research group focused on the media and marketing industries, had a storming six months to the end of October last year, with underlying profits before tax rising 52% over the previous year.Total revenues during the period rose 17% while organic revenue growth, which strips out acquisitions, rose 6%.Gross margin for the period increased from 54% to 56% and underlying operating margin was up from 7.0% to 10.5%.Ebiquity generated £24.02m in total revenue, up from £20.51m during the equivalent period of 2010.During the six months covered by the update, Ebiquity made three acquisitions; the British firm Echo for £4.6m, the Russian start up Joined Up Media Group for £0.45m, and Australian outfit Faulkner for £3.74m.Commenting on the results the group's Chief Executive, Michael Greenlees, said: "These results not only reflect the growing demand for data-driven insights that help our clients better manage their media and marketing performance, they also point to further improvement in operating efficiency".Investors seemed inclined to agree. The stock had risen 7.24% by 08:58. Over the last year the stock is still down, however, by 10%.BS