Interim Management Statement, third quarter

RNS Number : 6554V

Experian plc

17 January 2012

 



news release

Interim Management Statement, third quarter

17 January 2012 ─ Experian, the global information services company, today issues an Interim Management Statement that includes an update on trading for the three months to 31 December 2011.

Commenting on the performance of Experian, Don Robert, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We are pleased to have delivered another strong performance in the third quarter. At constant exchange rates, total revenue growth was 12%, with organic revenue growth of 7%.

"We continue to see good results from the execution of our growth strategy, helping us to withstand uncertainties in the global economy. Looking ahead, we expect organic revenue growth for the second half to be at least as strong as the third quarter, while for the year as a whole, we reiterate our expectations of modest margin improvement and strong cash flow conversion."

Experian plc

% change in revenue year-on-year for the three months to 31 December  2011

Continuing activities only1	Total growth       %	Total growth %	Organic growth %
	At actual exchange rates2	At constant exchange rates	At constant exchange rates
North America	3	3	2
Latin America	34	42	27
UK and Ireland	9	10	7
EMEA/Asia Pacific	19	19	7
Experian	11	12	7

1 Continuing activities exclude the contributions of UK Database Marketing and other smaller discontinuing items

2 Experian reports in US dollars

In the three months to 31 December 2011, total revenue from continuing activities at Experian increased by 12% at constant exchange rates. Group organic revenue growth was 7% year-on-year.

By principal activity, organic revenue growth was 15% at Credit Services, 3% at Decision Analytics, and 7% at Marketing Services. Organic revenue declined 1% at Interactive.

North America

Total revenue growth in North America was 3%, with organic revenue growth of 2%. The difference relates primarily to Medical Present Value (acquired June 2011).

There was good growth at Credit Services, with organic revenue up 7%. Consumer information benefited from further improvement in origination and customer management activity, and there were strong contributions from business information, automotive and healthcare payments. At Decision Analytics, organic revenue growth was 9%, reflecting good progress in software, fraud prevention and analytics. At Marketing Services, organic revenue growth was 7%, primarily reflecting strength in demand for targeted digital services. Organic revenue at Interactive declined 4%. Growth at Consumer Direct was offset by a decline in lead generation, although the rate of decline moderated somewhat during the quarter as prior-year comparables eased.

Latin America

At constant exchange rates, total revenue growth in Latin America was 42%. Organic revenue growth was 27%. The difference relates to the acquisitions of Virid Interatividade Digital (acquired July 2011) and Computec (completed in November 2011).

There was very strong growth at Credit Services, with organic revenue up 28%. Both consumer and business information performed well, and there was an exceptional boost from authentication revenue in the quarter. Growth benefited from strength in credit reference volumes, enhanced data coverage, clients trading up to premium products and further penetration of the small and medium enterprise sector. Growth at Decision Analytics of 60% reflected further progress in scoring and value-added products, while there was a decline of 15% at Marketing Services due to phasing.

UK and Ireland

At constant exchange rates, total revenue growth in UK and Ireland was 10%. Organic revenue growth was 7%. The difference relates to the acquisition of Techlightenment (acquired January 2011) and LM Group (acquired July 2011).

Credit Services delivered organic revenue growth of 2%, while growth at Decision Analytics was 4%. Growth benefited from moderately improved activity levels within the financial services sector and good progress in expanding across new customer segments. At Marketing Services, organic revenue growth was 2%, with growth in digital marketing offsetting weakness in the public sector. Interactive performed very strongly, with organic revenue growth of 29%, arising from the success of the bundled consumer proposition and improved retention.

EMEA/Asia Pacific

At constant exchange rates, total revenue growth for EMEA/Asia Pacific was 19%. Organic revenue growth was 7%. The difference relates primarily to the move to a majority holding in DP Information (April 2011).

Organic revenue growth at Credit Services was 6%, with continued resilience across the majority of Experian's bureau markets in Europe and growing contributions from business information activities in Asia Pacific. At Decision Analytics, organic revenue declined 9%, with some deferrals on software projects in Continental Europe. Marketing Services delivered exceptionally strong performance, with organic revenue growth of 17%, led by excellent performance across digital channels.

The acquisition of a 98% holding in Computec S.A. was completed in November 2011, for a consideration of US$380m. Other than as disclosed, there has been no change since 30 September 2011 to Experian's general financial position, which remains strong, and no material change to Experian's trading position to the date of this statement.

Future events

Experian will announce its preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2012 on 10 May 2012.

Contact:

Experian

Nadia Ridout-Jamieson          Director of Investor Relations       [phone]

James Russell                      Communications Director, UK&I and EMEA

RLM Finsbury

Rollo Head                                                                                    [phone]

Don Hunter

This announcement is available on the Experian website at http://www.experianplc.com. There will be a conference call today to discuss this update at 9.00am (UK time), which will be broadcast live on the website with a recording available later.

All financial information is based on unaudited management accounts. Certain statements made in this Interim Management Statement are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward-looking statements.

Neither the content of the Company's website, nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website), is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

 

END

 

 

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