2_800x533_L_1412520354.jpg)
LONDON (Reuters) - British companies raised their advertising budgets for the eighth quarter in a row in June to September, reflecting increased confidence in the country's broad-based recovery from recession.
The IPA Bellwether report said on Thursday that 25.6 percent of companies increased their marketing spend in the third quarter of this year, compared with 13 percent that cut budgets.
The resulting net balance of 12.6 percent was the third highest in the report's 14-year history.
The report also found that companies were at their most optimistic regarding full-year budgets since 2007, with 26 percent of firms recording an increase.
"This represents a remarkably positive picture of companies gaining confidence about the economic outlook as the year has proceeded, ploughing more money into budgets that had already been set higher at the start of the year," Chris Williamson, author of the report and chief economist at Markit, said.
Advertising companies have been benefiting from the improved climate for ad spending. WPP (L:WPP), the world's largest advertising company, said in its first-half results in August that like-for-like revenue grew in all markets, with the United States, Britain and Asia Pacific strong, helped by growing demand for digital advertising.
The IPA Bellwether report found that growth was strongest in internet advertising, as well as traditional media advertising, events, PR and direct marketing. But spending on sales promotions and market research fell.
The report was based on a survey of around 300 companies in Britain.
(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang. Editing by Jane Merriman)