Experian boosts dividend as bumper profit growth meets expectations

(Alliance News) - Experian PLC on Wednesday announced a new share buyback, strong results and an upbeat outlook but it wasn't enough to stop shares from heading lower.

The Dublin-based provider of consumer credit score checking, fraud detection and credit application processing services said pretax profit increased 26% to USD1.95 billion in the financial year to March 31 from USD1.55 billion the year prior.

Benchmark earnings before interest and tax rose 15% to USD2.41 billion from USD2.10 billion, or by 13% at constant currency, a touch ahead of USD2.40 billion company-compiled consensus.

Benchmark earnings per share climbed 15% 179.8 US cents from 156.9 cents, ahead of 179.2 cents consensus.

Revenue grew 12% to USD8.45 billion from USD7.52 billion, or 11% at constant currency, in line with company-compiled consensus. Organic growth of 8% was "at the top of our guidance range," Experian said, and included a 9% increase in the fourth quarter.

All regions contributed to organic revenue growth during the year. North America delivered growth of 10%, Latin America improved 8%, UK and Ireland 2% and Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific grew 5%.

"FY26 was a record year for Experian, with performance at the upper end of our expectations and strong strategic momentum," said Chief Executive Brian Cassin.

However, despite the strong looking earnings, shares in Experian fell 5.1% to 2,571.25 pence each in London on Wednesday, the worst performing stock on the FTSE 100 which was down 0.4%. Shares have fallen 34% in the last 12 months on AI disruption concerns.

On Wednesday, Experian said AI was already driving measurable efficiency gains across the business, with an around 10% to 15% uplift in coding productivity in the financial year, with certain areas achieving gains of over 30%.

AI is helping lower labour costs and extend its reach in existing and new markets, Experian said, noting it has identified over USD15 billion of AI-enabled market opportunities.

Margin expansion was above the firm's expectations, with benchmark Ebit margin of 28.6%, up 50 basis points at actual rates and 60 basis points at constant currency from a year ago.

Reflecting the strong results, Experian raised the final dividend by 11% on-year to 48.00 cents per share. This took the total payout to 69.25 cents, up 11% from 62.50 cents a year ago.

In addition, the firm announced a USD1 billion share repurchase programme after USD725 million share repurchases in the financial year just ended.

CEO Cassin predicted "another year of strong growth in financial 2027."

"We expect to deliver another year of double-digit benchmark EPS growth, underpinned by total revenue growth of 8-11%, organic growth of 6-8%, and margin expansion at the higher end of our medium-term framework." he said.

By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter

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