BEIJING — BlueFocus Communication Group, the Chinese marketing services behemoth that owns numerous advertising, digital and PR businesses, has forecast that its revenue will reach US$1.5bn by the end of this year.

The forecast comes as BlueFocus reports results for the first half of this year, during which the group increased gross revenue by 49% to Rmb5.14bn (US$773m), while net profit tripled to Rmb350m (US$53m).

BlueFocus attributed the topline growth to continued expansion of its digital business, which it claims now accounts for 73% of total group revenue, doubling the proportion recorded last year. In particular, it pointed to the success of its mobile offering, which includes agencies Domob and Madhouse.

The company also said it is seeing the benefits of its aggressive acquisition strategy, which has included numerous deals in China and abroad. BlueFocus' overseas subsidiaries, which include Vision7, We Are Social, Fuseproject, Metta and Financial PR, now account for approximately one third of its income — reporting revenue of Rmb1.7bn (US$250m) for 1H 2016, up 71% from last year.

"On one hand, the company saw significant financial returns as a bunch of owned and invested subsidiaries went public separately this year; on the other hand, as the company gradually completes the integrated service loop, from creative, PR, mobile, digital, to big data, eCommerce, etc., its long-term synergy growth strategy is also getting clearer – helping key accounts achieve business success by providing best in class intelligent marketing services at global scale," read a statement from the company.

Bluefocus CEO and founder Oscar Zhao has previously said that he wants the company to reach $3bn in revenue within a decade. To do that, the group said it will create "intelligence-based marketing services and continuously enlarge its worldwide presence," after acquiring predictive social intelligence firm Blab in the US. 

"Looking three to five years ahead, the company's goal is to have intelligence-marketing account for majority of BlueFocus' total revenue, with 50% from international business outside of mainland China."

The bullish report comes after Bluefocus reported that profits had dropped by more than 50% in 2015. The company's shares were temporarily suspended from trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange last year while, this year, it refuted reports of insider trading.