Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 7442Y

Experian Group Limited

10 July 2008

 



Experian Group Limited

Interim Management Statement, first quarter

Experian, the global information services company, today issues an update on trading for the three months to 30 June 2008.

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

'The strategic moves we have undertaken to balance the Experian portfolio have again enabled the Group to withstand the market challenges in the US and the UK. Total revenue growth was 21% in the first quarter, with organic revenue growth of 1%, against strong comparables. 

'Looking ahead, while we do not plan on the basis of any short-term recovery in the US and UK financial services markets, we expect strength in new geographies and across many business lines to support Group revenue growth. Our cost efficiency programme is progressing well, and we remain focused on driving profit growth.'

Experian Group 

% change in revenue year-on-year for the three months to 30 June 2008

Continuing activities only1	Total growth   %	Total growth %	Organic growth  %
	At actual exchange rates2	At constant exchange rates	At constant exchange rates
North America	1	1	0
Latin America	>1003	>1003	54
UK and Ireland	7	5	1
EMEA/Asia Pacific	26	9	1
Experian	21	16	1

1 Continuing activities exclude the contributions of MetaReward, UK account processing, Loyalty Solutions and other smaller discontinuing activities

2 Experian is reporting in US dollars

3 Latin America total growth at actual exchange rates for the three months ended 30 June 2008 was 3,921% and total growth at constant exchange rates was 3,308%

In the three months to 30 June 2008, revenue from continuing activities at Experian increased by 16% at constant exchange rates. Group organic revenue growth was 1% year-on-year. There was good organic revenue growth at Interactive, up 8%, and Decision Analytics, up 5%. Marketing Services was flat, while, as expected, Credit Services declined by 4%, reflecting challenging market conditions, particularly in the US. Acquisitions contributed 15% to revenue growth.  

North America

Revenue in North America for the three months ended 30 June 2008 increased by 1% in total. Organic revenue was flat. The acquisition of Hitwise (acquired in June 2007) accounts for the difference.

As expected, and against strong comparables, organic revenue declined by 5% at Credit Services. Conditions in mortgage and pre-screen continued to be weak, partially mitigated by strength in portfolio management and collections, currently major focus areas for financial services clients. At Decision Analytics, the pipeline remains strong, but sales cycles are long. Organic revenue declined by 6%, against significant one-off revenue last year. Organic revenue growth in Marketing Services was 2%, as continued strength in new media activities offset weaker conditions for traditional activities. In Interactive, organic revenue growth was 5%. Strong demand for membership services drove further excellent performance at Consumer Direct, offset by continued weakness in the mortgage vertical at Experian Interactive Media. 

Latin America

Revenue for Latin America in the three-month period to 30 June 2008 was US$128m (prior year US$3m), including the contributions from Informarketing and Serasa, acquired respectively in April 2007 and June 2007. Organic revenue increased by 54%, off a low base.

Revenue at Serasa performed strongly, in line with the buy plan, reflecting good performances across vertical channels such as retail, insurance and credit card, plus new wins in the financial services sector. There was also an excellent performance at Marketing Services, which benefited from a series of new business wins. 

UK and Ireland

Revenue in UK and Ireland from continuing activities for the three months ended 30 June 2008 increased by 5% at constant exchange rates. Organic revenue rose 1%, with acquisitions, including Tallyman (acquired in May 2007), Hitwise, The pH Group (acquired in July 2007) and N4 Solutions (acquired in July 2007), contributing the balance. 

While conditions for the UK financial services sector continue to be challenging, Credit Services organic revenue declined only modestly in the quarter, by 2%, helped by growth in business information. Decision Analytics improved, up 4% organically, reflecting new business wins and strength in customer management, analytics and scorecard rebuilds. Meanwhile, Tallyman continues to perform very strongly, as does N4 Solutions, the mortgage sector and financial services software provider. Conditions for Marketing Services continue to be challenging, impacted by the weak environment for financial services, with organic revenue down 7%. Interactive performed very strongly, up 50% organically, driven by strength in new CreditExpert memberships. 

EMEA/Asia Pacific

At constant exchange rates, revenue in EMEA/Asia Pacific increased by 9% in the three-month period to 30 June 2008. Organic revenue growth was 1%, with acquisitions, mainly Emailing Solution (acquired in May 2007), Tallyman and Hitwise contributing the balance. 

Organic revenue declined at Credit Services by 3%, exacerbated by contract phasing in business process outsourcing and continued declines in cheque volumes at the French transaction processing business. Decision Analytics performed strongly, with organic revenue growth of 14%, reflecting new business wins in Italy and Eastern Europe and a strong one-off contribution in Japan. Marketing Services again performed well, with organic growth of 8%. 

Future announcements

Experian will hold its AGM in Dublin on 16 July 2008 and will issue its first half trading update on 15 October 2008. 

Enquiries

Experian

Paul Brooks                     Chief Financial Officer                     [phone] 

Nadia Ridout-Jamieson     Director of Investor Relations

Alex Brog                         Head of Media Relations

Finsbury

Rollo Head                                                                           [phone]

Don Hunter

This announcement is available on the Experian website, www.experiangroup.com. There will be two conference calls today to discuss this update, at 9.00am and at 3.00pm (UK time). Both 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. 

 

END

 

 

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