Experian posts strong 2009 results with pre-tax profit rising to $661m

EXPERIAN, the global credit information group which has its corporate headquarters in Dublin for tax purposes, has posted a pre-tax profit of $661 million (€536.2m) for 2009 – up from $578m for the previous year.

Group revenue from continuing activities was up by 2%, on a constant currency basis, at $3.9bn, with basic earnings per share up by 11c at 59c. The strong showing – boosted by a good performance in the second half of the year – has led management to issue a full-year dividend to shareholders of 23c – an increase of 15% on the level handed out in 2008.

“Last year we grew revenue... Looking ahead, we see signs of gradual recovery in some of our key markets and we expect a modest contribution from our strategic growth initiatives over the course of the year,” said group chief executive Don Robert on the back of the results. He added that for the first half of this year good organic revenue growth levels are expected. “We expect organic revenue growth to be slightly stronger than the full-year 2010 exit rate. For the year as a whole, we are targeting mid single-digit EBIT growth (from continuing activities at constant currency) and strong cash generation. Longer term, we see... opportunities to... capitalise on our globally leading position.”

Experian’s second-half trading update published last month hinted at the strong 2009 full-year figures shown yesterday. However, the strong showing in the latter half of last year was mainly driven by positive movement in its international divisions; particularly North America, Latin America and the EMEA/Asia Pacific regions. The only exception was the British and Irish division, which registered a 2% year-on-year revenue fall in the second half.