The first six months of ‘08 were fairly eventful for media agency holding company Aegis: it made 14 acquisitions, as profits rose 16.7 percent on a constant currency basis to £65 million and revenue was up 21.8 percent to £607.6 million. And as its rivals race to increase their share of digital revenues, Aegis says that its interactive shop Isobar now makes up 29 percent of its total revs, up from last year’s 26 percent. That company also accounted for nine acquisitions during the period, including AdWatch in Russia, which also expanded its search engine marketing operations in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Thailand.  Isobar’s iProspect brand now has 20 offices in a total of 17 markets worldwide. However, the company warned that the second half of the year might not be so positive as a result of worsening economic conditions and slowing demand in Spain, the US and the UK. Aegis’ outline for the rest of the year looks like this:

SEE ALSO: Carat’s Still Bullish On Online Ad Spend, But Total Forecast Revised Slightly Downward

—As detailed in its Carat unit’s latest adspend forecast, the company is calling for growth of 4.9 percent for the global advertising market in 2008, down from a March forecast of 6 percent. As a reaction to the difficult ad market, along with account losses such as Hyundai and New Line Cinemas (due to its having been merged with Warner Bros.), Carat will “accelerate” its U.S. reorg through a series of layoffs, the number of which was not specified. The costs of the reorg are included within an “exceptional reorganisation charge” of £4.8 million in the first half and an expected £3.2 million in the second half of 2008.

—The company’s market research arm, Synovate, also lowered its forecast 2008 to 4.1 percent from 5.1 percent.

—Operating margins are expected to be broadly flat at Aegis Media on a full-year basis. Release (PDF)