Aegis' Q3 Results Report Is a Joke

(MoneyWatch)  It's not news that financial disclosure standards for European companies are lax compared to their U.S. counterparts, but the Q3 2009 "results" announcement just issued by British ad agency holding company Aegis (AEGS.L) illustrates just how lousy those low standards are.

It doesn't give the company's revenue numbers. Nor its profits. Nor expenses. It only gives percentages and leaves observers to guess what the real numbers are. Business was up 1 percent over 2008, Aegis said, but currency headwinds meant the company will report (eventually) a decline of 10.8 percent in its sales. My back-of-the-envelope math tells me that its nine-month revenues were therefore probably something slightly less than ?£799 million -- but who knows? It's impossible to tell.

Aegis owns the media buying agency Carat, and handles clients such as Kellogg (K) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).

The murk is doubly frustrating because Aegis and its main rival, Havas (EURC.PA), are continually the subject of speculation that they may merge. It would be nice if investors had some idea of what the numbers behind such a marriage might look like. But we'll all have to wait until Q4. It's not as if it's impossible for British firms to get their spreadsheets in order on a timely basis. WPP (WPPGY) reported actual numbers in its Q3 disclosures. So why not Aegis?

The chapter is the most frustrating since French agency holding company Publicis (PUB) successfully disguised the payment of $15.5 million to settle allegations that it defrauded the U.S. Army's ad account in February.

• Related:
• Aegis Q2: 900 Jobs Lost But No Havas Merger; What's Napier's Plan? More Layoffs.