Ogilvy at No.1 in Hong Kong for third consecutive year

<p>Ogilvy & Mather has topped the Hong Kong billings ranking for the </p><p>third year in a row, according to figures from the 4As. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For 1999, the agency raked in billings worth HK$1.148 billion, up </p><p>about three per cent from the year before. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>DDB jumped one place to second spot with a 12 per cent increase in </p><p>billings to HK$1.047 billion. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>J. Walter Thompson, which held the second spot in 1998, slipped one </p><p>place as its billings eased 2.4 per cent to HK$944.63 </p><p>million. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Total billings of all the 4As members which submitted income reports </p><p>came to HK$9.662 billion, virtually unchanged from the year </p><p>before. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Bates Asia-Pacific regional director for Greater China Jeffrey Yu, also </p><p>the chairman of the 4As, said the figures were expected as Hong Kong and </p><p>the rest of Asia were still suffering from the Asian 'flu in the first </p><p>half of 1999. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, Mr Yu predicted that prospects for the rest of this year should </p><p>be brighter. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"As Asia slowly comes out of the recession, year 2000 should see some </p><p>improvements in billing for Hong Kong and China as clients see gradual </p><p>recovery of the consumer markets," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>* See also chart and story on page 3. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>1999 Hong Kong 4As Agency Ranking </p><p>(All figures in HKdollars millions) </p><p>1999 1999 1998 YOY 1998 </p><p>Rank Name of Agency Billings Billings % change Rank </p><p>1 Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong 1,147.93 1,111.68 3.3% 1 </p><p>2 DDB Worldwide 1,047.00 935.81 12.0% 3 </p><p>3 J. Walter Thompson 944.63 968.09 -2.4% 2 </p><p>4 * FCB Hong Kong 830.00 878.04** -5.5% 4 </p><p>5 McCann-Erickson Guangming 744.68 826.23 -9.9% 6 </p><p>6 Leo Burnett - Hong Kong 731.77 835.29 -12.4% 5 </p><p>7 Bates Hong Kong 687.70 733.77 -6.3% 7 </p><p>8 Grey Hong Kong 646.04 533.92 21.0% 8 </p><p>9 Euro RSCG 492.44 514.44 -4.3% 9 </p><p>10 Dentsu, Young & Rubicam 470.20 510.22 -7.8% 10 </p><p>11 BBDO Hong Kong 379.46 320.44 18.4% 11 </p><p>12 Publicis Ad-Link 315.06 - - - </p><p>13 D'Arcy 270.91 301.97 -10.3% 12 </p><p>14 Saatchi & Saatchi 255.39 278.73 -8.4% 13 </p><p>15 TBWA Hong Kong 170.94 219.46 -22.1% 15 </p><p>16 Lowe & Partners/Live 152.12 114.59 32.8% 17 </p><p>17 Dentsu Inc., Hong Kong Branch 145.55 192.72 -24.5% 16 </p><p>18 Ammirati Puris Lintas 144.11 231.89 -37.9% 14 </p><p>19 Fortune 85.04 103.20 -17.6% 18 </p><p> TOTAL 9,661.97 9,610.49 0.54% </p><p>* FCB and Bozell merged in September 1999 reported jointly as FCB China. </p><p>** FCB and Bozell billings combined for comparison purposes. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>