City Briefs: Experian; Eurocell
Nottingham-headquartered information services giant Experian has seen revenues decline across its UK and Ireland business as it struggled against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Revenue in the UK and Ireland was just above £250m for the six months to September – a drop of 12% on 2019. Total and organic revenue declined (12)%.
Profit before tax across all global territories was down 5% to £346m.
Brian Cassin, chief executive, said: “Against the backdrop of the global pandemic we delivered a resilient performance in H1, with organic revenue growth of 2% and modest progress in constant currency EBIT. Q2 organic revenue growth was 5%, at the top end of our guidance range. The drivers of growth stemmed largely from North America and Brazil which offset COVID-19 related declines in other territories. The stand out performance across the Group was Consumer Services, where we now have nearly 100m free consumer memberships. For Q3 we expect organic revenue growth in the range of 3% to 5%.
“While COVID-19 has significantly impacted the macroeconomic environment, it has also catalysed trends which play to Experian’s strengths. Innovation is our bedrock and has driven success for us in the marketplace. Once the crisis abates, we believe we will be strongly positioned to take advantage of the secular growth trends and we are excited by the opportunities we see ahead.”
Eurocell, the Derbyshire uPVC doors and windows firm, has reported strong sales over the second half of its financial year, with revenues up by 13% to October 31.
This performance was against a fall in turnover of 31% for the first six months of the year.
A statement from the company said: “We have so far seen no discernible impact from the recent tightening of COVID-related restrictions, including the second national lockdown imposed from 5 November. Our manufacturing plants, branch network, distribution and recycling operations all remain open, in line with UK Government guidance. Subject to no significant further adverse impacts from COVID, we now expect underlying profit before tax for the full year to be ahead of current expectations.”
