Gusbourne Regulatory News (GUS)

14 Sep 2006 07:03

GUS PLC14 September 2006 14 September 2006 GUS plc Experian Trading Update Experian, the global information solutions company, which is part of GUS plc, isissuing this update on trading to coincide with the publication of itsprospectus later today. Don Robert, Chief Executive Officer of Experian, said: "We are pleased with the performance of Experian in the first five months of theyear, which continues to show good growth in line with our expectations. Salesgrew by 18%, with organic growth of 7%, reflecting the scale and strength of theExperian business around the world." % change in sales year-on-year for the five months to 31 August 2006+------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+|Continuing activities only* |At actual exchange | At constant || | rates %# | exchange rates % |+------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+|Americas | 20 | 20 |+------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+|UK and Ireland | 21 | 20 |+------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+|EMEA/Asia-Pacific | 9 | 8 |+------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+|Experian | 18 | 18 |+------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+* As previously disclosed, two businesses have been treated as discontinuingfrom 1 April 2006. These are MetaReward's incentive marketing websites whichhave been closed and large scale UK account processing, where Experian hasannounced its phased withdrawal by Autumn 2009# Experian is reporting in US dollars In the five months to 31 August 2006, Experian grew its sales from continuingactivities by 18% at constant exchange rates. Organic growth was 7% with thebalance from acquisitions. By geography, Experian's three regions all showed 7% organic sales growth. Thisperformance illustrates the benefits of Experian's successful strategy tobroaden its portfolio of businesses by geography and by product. AmericasIn dollars, sales from continuing activities in the five months to 31 August2006 increased by 20% in total. Organic growth was 7% in the period withcorporate acquisitions, largely in Interactive, generating the remaining 13%. As expected, sales in Credit Services excluding acquisitions were in line withlast year, a pleasing performance against a period where the comparatives werevery strong (H1 2005/6: +18%). Sales of products used in account acquisition(profiles and prescreen) were weaker but this was offset by good growth in riskmanagement, collections, recovery and account retention products. Sales ofDecision Analytics grew strongly, reflecting a recent contract win with Bank ofAmerica and continued strength in fraud prevention products. Sales in Marketing Solutions were marginally down year-on-year, with thecontinuing trend of strong growth in email marketing and research servicesoffset by weakness in consumer marketing data and list processing. Organicgrowth in Interactive was in excess of 20%, with particular strength in ConsumerDirect. UK and IrelandIn the five months to 31 August 2006, sales from continuing activities increasedby 20% in total at constant exchange rates. Organic growth continued at 7% inthe period despite a difficult consumer environment. The contribution fromacquisitions, largely ClarityBlue, was 13%. Excluding acquisitions, there were solid performances from Credit Services,Decision Analytics and Marketing Solutions, with particular success in fraudprevention and in the telecommunications and public sectors. Interactive salesmore than trebled in the period. EMEA/Asia-PacificIn the five months to 31 August 2006, sales from continuing activities increasedby 8% in total at constant exchange rates, of which organic growth was 7%. Therewas particular strength in Decision Analytics, especially in Southern andEastern Europe. Sales in the French transaction processing business, whichaccounted for about half of revenue in the period, were marginally ahead of lastyear. Future announcementsExperian will announce its Interim Results on 21 November 2006. Enquiries ExperianPaul Brooks Chief Financial Officer 020 7495 0070Fay Dodds Director of Investor Relations FinsburyRupert Younger 020 7251 3801Rollo Head This announcement is available on the GUS website, www.gusplc.com. All financial information is based on unaudited management accounts. Certainstatements made in this Trading Update are forward-looking statements. Suchstatements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number ofrisks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differmaterially from any expected future events or results referred to in theseforward-looking statements. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange