• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, May 12, 2011

Aegis Group, the parent of big media networks such as Carat, Posterscope, and Isobar, reported strong organic growth during the first quarter of 2011, due largely to results from its media services operations, especially in North America.

Organic revenue rose 9.1% over the first-quarter of 2010, and total revenues - on an as reported basis - rose 16.3%.

The organic growth rates were proportionately higher for its Aegis Media division, which rose 10.1% vs. its marketing research division, Synovate, which rose 7.3% during the quarter.

"Our business in North America continued to deliver strong performance improvement, supported by on-going positive new business momentum," the holding company said in its earnings statement, noting, "Aegis Media secured total net new business wins of $1.6 billion during the first quarter of the year (2010: $0.8 billion), driven in particular by our new business momentum in North America. Wins during the quarter included The Home Depot and Disney in North America, Enel in Latin America, Ergo, Findus, Asda, Red Bull, the Scottish Government and ebay in Western Europe and Kellogg's digital creative business in Asia Pacific."

Aegis said it is accelerating its acquisitions plans on an opportunistic basis, and will continue to "target acquisitions which provide scale, infill and innovation, with a focus on small to medium-sized bolt-ons in both faster growing regions and digital."

In a separate announcement, Aegis said its iProspect unit acquired Qualitè Search Marketing, a performance marketing shop based in Norway.

During the first quarter, Aegis also made several small "bolt-on" acquisitions in the media services sector, including Clickthinking, a South African performance marketing business, and Riber, a US-based sports and entertainment marketing agency.