10th Jan 2007 07:00
Experian Group Limited10 January 2007 10 January 2007 Experian Group Limited Third Quarter Trading Update Experian, the global information solutions company, today issues an update ontrading in the three months to 31 December 2006. Commenting on the performance of Experian, Don Robert, Chief Executive Officer,said: "We are pleased with the way our businesses have performed around the world.There was particularly strong organic growth in the quarter, helped byexceptional results from Consumer Direct and PriceGrabber.com. Looking forward,while we continue to face specific challenges in some of our markets, we remainconfident about the outlook for the full year." Experian Group % change in sales year-on-year for the three months to 31 December 2006+----------------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+|Continuing activities | Total growth | Total growth | Organic growth ||only* | | | || | % | % | % |+----------------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+| | At actual | At constant | At constant || |exchange rates#| exchange rates | exchange rates |+----------------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+|Americas+ | 15 | 15 | 10 |+----------------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+|UK and Ireland | 35 | 22 | 7 |+----------------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+|EMEA/Asia Pacific | 17 | 10 | 8 |+----------------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+|Experian | 20 | 16 | 9 |+----------------------+---------------+----------------+----------------+ * As previously disclosed, two businesses have been treated as discontinuingfrom 1 April 2006. These are MetaReward's incentive marketing websites, whichhave been closed, and large scale UK account processing, where Experian hasannounced its phased withdrawal by Autumn 2009 # Experian is reporting in US dollars + PriceGrabber.com has been included in organic growth for the period since itsacquisition in mid-December 2005 In the three months to 31 December 2006, sales from continuing activities atExperian increased by 16% at constant exchange rates. Organic growth was 9%,reflecting, as expected, an acceleration in US Credit Services, exceptionalperformance from Consumer Direct and PriceGrabber.com, and continued stronggrowth from Decision Analytics. Acquisitions contributed 7% to sales growth inthe period. Experian acquired three businesses during the quarter - a business and consumercredit bureau in Estonia, Adhoc Solutions (Belgian micromarketing) and anadditional affiliate credit bureau in the US, for a combined consideration of$20m plus earn-outs. Americas In dollars, sales in the Americas from continuing activities in the three monthsto 31 December 2006 increased by 15% in total. Organic growth was 10%, withPriceGrabber, which was acquired in mid-December 2005, generating the remaining5%. Against easier comparatives, Credit Services saw a return to low single-digitorganic growth. Decision Analytics continued to perform very strongly in theperiod, while organic sales in Marketing Solutions were in line with last year. Interactive's organic sales growth was again above 20% in the period, with anexceptional performance from Consumer Direct. PriceGrabber delivered total proforma year-on-year growth of around 40% in this seasonally important quarter,benefiting in particular from higher traffic from free and organic searchchannels. UK and Ireland Sales from continuing activities in the UK and Ireland increased by 22% in thethird quarter at constant exchange rates. Organic growth was 7%, withacquisitions, mainly FootFall (acquired in December 2005), ClarityBlue (acquiredin January 2006) and Eiger Systems (acquired in June 2006) contributing thebalance. Both Credit Services and Marketing Solutions showed low single-digit organicsales growth in the quarter, reflecting continuing difficult conditions in theUK credit market. Sales at Consumer Direct in the UK nearly tripled. Decision Analytics performed well, with Experian's market leadership in fraudprevention being reinforced by the renewal of a five-year contract for runningthe UK's national fraud data sharing system (National Hunter). Experian alsosigned a new contract with Royal Bank of Scotland to prevent application fraudacross its UK banking and insurance activities. EMEA/Asia Pacific At constant exchange rates, sales from continuing activities in EMEA/AsiaPacific increased by 10% in the quarter, of which organic growth contributed 8%.There was improved growth in Credit Services, including double-digit increasesfrom the consumer credit bureaux in Southern and Eastern Europe and SouthAfrica. Sales in Decision Analytics increased by strong double-digit rates. During thequarter, Experian signed a contract to deliver its strategy management softwareto Shenzhen Development Bank in China. Shenzhen has a strategic alliance with GEMoney, which uses Experian's decision support software in over 20 countriesaround the world. Future announcements Experian will issue its Second Half Trading Update on 17 April 2007. ItsPreliminary Results will be announced on 23 May 2007. Enquiries Experian Paul BrooksChief Financial Officer 0203 042 4200 Fay DoddsDirector of Investor Relations Finsbury Rollo Head 0207 251 3801James Wyatt-Tilby This announcement is available on the Experian website, www.experiangroup.com.There will be a conference call to discuss this update at 3.00pm today with arecording available later on the website. All financial information is based on unaudited management accounts. Certainstatements made in this Trading Update are forward-looking statements. Suchstatements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number ofrisks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differmaterially from any expected future events or results referred to in theseforward-looking statements. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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