A strong international footprint was a blessing for YouGov (YOU) during the six months to January 2017. Not only did all geographical sub-divisions report higher sales, but recent sterling depreciation increased the value of revenues earned overseas. But even excluding the currency benefit, revenue and operating profits still rose 8 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.
The US - YouGov's largest division - performed particularly well. The group was selected to provide election polling for CBS News, which inflated its stateside profile and helped grow constant-currency US revenues by 8 per cent to £19.7m. But, despite being known for its political tracking, polling only makes up a minority of YouGov's revenue. The biggest growth areas are data products and services, where corporate customers buy subscriptions to YouGov's data analysis. A 24 per cent increase in sales here means this division now makes up 43 per cent of total revenue. And there's still plenty of room to grow: YouGov's BrandIndex product has 500 paying customers out of a total marketplace of about 5,000 global brands.
Broker Numis has raised full year forecasts, with pre-tax profit and EPS for the year ending July 2017 now expected to come in at £14.8m and 10.1p respectively (from £13.3m and 8.6p in 2016).
YOUGOV (YOU) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 260p | MARKET VALUE: | £273m | |
| TOUCH: | 255-265p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 270p | LOW: 137p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.5% | PE RATIO: | 74 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 74p* | NET CASH: | £15m | |
| Half-year to 31 Jan | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 41.5 | 1.9 | 1.2 | nil |
| 2017 | 51.4 | 2.5 | 1.4 | nil |
| % change | +24 | +31 | +17 | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Includes intangible assets of £55m, or 52p a share | ||||
