Don Robert, Chief Executive Officer of Experian, said:
“We are pleased with the performance of Experian in the first five months of the year, which continues to show good growth in line with our expectations. Sales grew by 18%, with organic growth of 7%, reflecting the scale and strength of the Experian business around the world.”
| Continuing activities only1 | At actual exchange rates %2 | At constant exchange rates % |
|---|---|---|
| Americas | 20 | 20 |
| UK and Ireland | 21 | 20 |
| EMEA/Asia-Pacific | 9 | 8 |
| Experian | 18 | 18 |
|
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In the five months to 31 August 2006, Experian grew its sales from continuing activities by 18% at constant exchange rates. Organic growth was 7% with the balance from acquisitions.
By geography, Experian’s three regions all showed 7% organic sales growth. This performance illustrates the benefits of Experian’s successful strategy to broaden its portfolio of businesses by geography and by product.
In dollars, sales from continuing activities in the five months to 31 August 2006 increased by 20% in total. Organic growth was 7% in the period with corporate acquisitions, largely in Interactive, generating the remaining 13%.
As expected, sales in Credit Services excluding acquisitions were in line with last year, a pleasing performance against a period where the comparatives were very strong (H1 2005/6: +18%). Sales of products used in account acquisition (profiles and prescreen) were weaker but this was offset by good growth in risk management, collections, recovery and account retention products. Sales of Decision Analytics grew strongly, reflecting a recent contract win with Bank of America and continued strength in fraud prevention products.
Sales in Marketing Solutions were marginally down year-on-year, with the continuing trend of strong growth in email marketing and research services offset by weakness in consumer marketing data and list processing. Organic growth in Interactive was in excess of 20%, with particular strength in Consumer Direct.
In the five months to 31 August 2006, sales from continuing activities increased by 20% in total at constant exchange rates. Organic growth continued at 7% in the period despite a difficult consumer environment. The contribution from acquisitions, largely ClarityBlue, was 13%.
Excluding acquisitions, there were solid performances from Credit Services, Decision Analytics and Marketing Solutions, with particular success in fraud prevention and in the telecommunications and public sectors. Interactive sales more than trebled in the period.
In the five months to 31 August 2006, sales from continuing activities increased by 8% in total at constant exchange rates, of which organic growth was 7%. There was particular strength in Decision Analytics, especially in Southern and Eastern Europe. Sales in the French transaction processing business, which accounted for about half of revenue in the period, were marginally ahead of last year.
Experian will announce its Interim Results on 21 November 2006.
| Experian | ||
| Paul Brooks | Group Finance Director | 020 7495 0070 |
| Fay Dodds | Director of Investor Relations | |
| Finsbury | ||
| Rupert Younger | 020 7251 3801 | |
| Rollo Head | ||
This announcement is available on the GUS website, www.gusplc.com.
All financial information is based on unaudited management accounts. Certain statements made in this Trading Update 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.