Israeli digital ad firm Matomy posts higher 9-month profit

TEL AVIV, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Digital advertising firm Matomy Group, which went public in London in July, said on Wednesday its net profit in the first nine months of 2014 doubled, boosted by increased mobile, video and social media activity.

Nine-month net profit rose to $9.8 million from $4.8 million a year earlier as revenue grew 20 percent to $170.2 million.

The London listing came after a failed attempt in March when Matomy, which counts American Express (Swiss: AXP.SW - news) and HSBC among its clients, could not raise enough money from EU investors. The company decided to try again when the LSE made its investment requirements more accommodating.

Earlier this month Publicis Groupe (Other OTC: PGPEF - news) acquired 24.9 percent of the company, making it Matomy's largest shareholder.

"We made significant progress achieving our strategic goals during the third quarter, primarily in advancing our geographic reach and mobile advertising capabilities via strategic investments," Matomy Chief Executive Ofer Druker said.

Last month's acquisition of MobFox for $17.6 million in cash and shares is expected to enable Matomy to reach a goal of 50 percent of revenue from mobile activity in less than five years, he added. MobFox's platform enables mobile application developers to place advertisements on their apps. (Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Steven Scheer)