Credit-checking group Experian delivered a solid first-half performance, with all areas contributing to overall organic revenue growth of 6 per cent. Once again it was the group's Latin American and Asia Pacific operations that provided the lion's share of growth. Revenue in Latin America rose by 20 per cent to $460m and sales in Asia Pacific were up 7 per cent at $284m. Growth was more modest in the group's relatively mature North American operation - up 2 per cent at $1.14bn and the UK and Europe generated 6 per cent growth to boost sales up to $399m.
Experian is starting to reap the benefits of investing in a global growth programme as well as acquisitions and organic growth in the second half is expected to at least match that seen in the first half. Operating margins rose by 20 basis points to 24.5 per cent, and management expects to see a modest improvement in the second half, as well as maintaining strong cash flow conversion which was running at 78 per cent in the first half.
Group net debt rose by $207m (£130m) to $1.71bn, reflecting capital expenditure of $201m and net acquisition costs of $278m. Analysts at Shore Capital are forecasting full-year adjusted pre-tax profits of $1.11bn and EPS of 79.3¢ (2011: $973m/70¢).
| EXPERIAN (EXPN) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 831p | MARKET VALUE: | £8.4bn | |
| TOUCH: | 830-832p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 842p | LOW: 652p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.2% | PE RATIO: | 23 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 241c* | NET DEBT: | 66% | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2.00 | 283 | 25.9 | 9.0 |
| 2011 | 2.29 | 343 | 25.6 | 10.3 |
| % change | +15 | +21 | -1 | +14 |
Ex-div: 28 Dec Payment: 27 Jan *Includes intangible assets of $5.22bn, or 520c a share. £1=$1.595 | ||||
