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(Alliance News) - Experian PLC on Tuesday reported a "better than expected" third quarter, with growth driven by the Americas.
The London-based credit-checking firm said it delivered organic revenue growth of 7% for the three months to December 31 and total revenue growth of 10% at constant exchange rates. A year ago, Experian recorded organic growth of 7% and total revenue growth of 9% at constant exchange rates.
By region, North America posted third quarter organic revenue growth of 9% and Latin America had organic revenue growth of 13%, while UK & Ireland saw revenue fall 2% and Europe, the Middle East & Africa & Asia Pacific reported an 11% decline.
Experian said North America business-to-business growth was driven by strength in both mortgage volumes and Experian Ascend, which offset ongoing Covid-19 related weakness in credit reference volumes in support of unsecured lending. Growth in Latin America was attributed to new initiatives offsetting weakness in credit bureau volumes.
The company added that the revenue decline in UK & Ireland was due to weakness in the Decisioning division. In the EMEA & Asia Pacific region Experian noted that, while organic revenue decreased, total revenue rose 16% at constant currency - putting the difference down to the contribution from the acquisition of the Risk Management division of Arvato Financial Solutions.
"Experian is performing very well, even in the exceptional circumstances created by the pandemic, and we expect to deliver a strong performance for this financial year. This again illustrates the resilience of our business. We remain highly focused on investing to sustain this performance and to take full advantage of the recovery when it comes," said Chief Executive Brian Cassin.
Experian said it expects organic revenue growth for the fourth quarter will be around 3% to 5%, noting this will be against a "strong prior year comparative". The FTSE 100-listed firm expected full-year benchmark earnings before interest and tax in a range of USD1.36 billion to USD1.38 billion.
Experian will publish its results for the year ending March 31 on May 19.
Shares in Experian were up 1.1% at 2,710.00 pence in London on Tuesday.
By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com
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