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LONDON (Alliance News) - Market research agency and pollster YouGov PLC on Monday said pretax profit rose significantly in the first half of its financial year, driven by higher revenue and better margins.
YouGov said it made a pretax profit GBP1.9 million in the six months to January 31, up from GBP16,000 a year earlier. Revenue rose to GBP41.5 million from GBP36.2 million, outpacing an increase in its cost of sales and operating expenses to feed through to profit.
Data Products & Services revenue grew 32% in the year, while Custom Research sales increased 6.0%, slightly ahead of the wider market, according to YouGov. The group said it performed well in its core UK and US market and saw solid growth in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and France.
"We are well positioned for the future and see significant opportunities for further growth of our existing syndicated data products and data services, including high potential for the YouGov Cube and YouGov Profiles. This is an exciting time for YouGov and the second half of our financial year has started well with trading in line with expectations," said Chief Executive Stephan Shakespeare.
Shares in YouGov were flat at 135.00 pence on Monday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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