Experian PLC (LON:EXPN) has posted a jump in third-quarter revenue, driven by strong growth in North America, leading the credit-checking firm to reiterate its full-year guidance.
In a trading update for the three months to 31 December 2018, the FTSE 100-listed firm said its total revenue rose by 9% in the period, with revenue from its North America business up 12%.
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The company said its growth in North America reflected strength in its B2B business, thanks to strong core credit volumes, trended data and new product innovations, as well as strength across its business credit, health and automotive operations.
The firm also said Clarity Services, which provides non-traditional credit data, performed well as its core market expands and it introduces Clarity data to existing clients.
In other territories, Experian reported growth of 9% in the EMEA/Asia Pacific region, while Latin American revenue was up 4%, with revenue growth in the UK & Ireland up 3%.
However, it added, revenue growth in the UK & Ireland across its B2B segment was 4% higher, driven by new business wins, pre-qualification and data aggregation services.
The group also saw good growth in decisioning software and fraud prevention, including new wins for CrossCore.
Brian Cassin, Experian’s chief executive officer commented: "Our performance reflects the success of our strategy to deliver innovative products at scale across our geographies and to build direct relationships with consumers, and our full-year guidance is unchanged."
Experian said it will release results for the year ending 31 March 2019 on Wednesday 15 May 2019.
"Sure and steady update"
Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index commented: “This is a sure and steady update from Experian that shows it's very much on track to meet the top end of its full-year guidance. Organic revenue growth is again evident in all regions and it's good to see a substantial improvement in the UK consumer services division.”
She added: “Businesses are still clearly looking to get an edge over their competitors by tapping Experian's vast data troves to analyse customer behaviour. An ongoing economic recovery in the US is helping matters by allowing companies to shell out more on digital transformation strategies, for which big-data mining is often a centrepiece.”
“Regulatory risk will always hang over Experian as governments, particularly in Europe, pledging to clamp down on alleged misuses of people's personal information. So far, though Experian has successfully played the situation to its advantage, by assuring customers that it's better placed than competitors to navigate new rules and offer data that won't get them into hot water,” the analyst concluded.
In late morning trading, Experian shares were 1.9% higher at 1,910.50p.
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