Experian upgraded its full-year guidance as the consumer data group reported strong growth in a first half boosted by markets reopening from the pandemic.
Pretax profit rose 43% to $654m in the six months to the end of September as revenue increased 23% to $3.06bn. Excluding currency gains, pretax profit rose 32%. Organic revenue rose 16%.
Growth was driven by the consumer services business with 27% organic revenue growth though this was weighted towards the first quarter. Business to business services benefited from renewed lending and marketing by clients as economies returned to growth.
Experian increased its guidance for organic revenue growth to 11-13% from 9-11% for the full year and total revenue growth of 15-17%.
Brian Cassin, Experian’s chief executive, said: “We had a very good first half performance. consumer services has seen standout growth, and our B2B businesses continue to perform very well. We expect progress to continue.”
The interim dividend increased 10% to 16 cents per share.
Experian shares fell 1.2% to £34.71 at 08:44 GMT.
