Jul 13, 2018

Global information services provider Experian updated on its Q1 performance in line with expectations, supported by recent acquisitions. Total revenue grew by 10% at constant exchange rates (up 9% at actual rates) and saw organic revenue grow by 8%. Experian’s strong finish to last year  has continued with total revenue (at actual rates) up 11% in the UK and Ireland, up 13% in North America and up 15% in EMEA / AsiaPac. In the UK and Ireland, organic revenue growth was 3%, with B2B up 7% whilst Consumer Services continued to lag down 8%. Total revenue growth (at constant rates) was 4% reflecting the acquisition of Runpath. Experian acquired Runpath in 2017, a UK-based fintech company, for its ability to aggregate Experian data with external sources. Runpath’s technology is used extensively in price comparison websites and in the testing of the government’s Pension Dashboard. The UK business received a further boost by June’s decision by the FCA to accredit Experian to supply Open Banking and PSD2 services. This will allow Experian to bring new services to market as Open Banking APIs are implemented in coming months, complementing its existing credit bureau services. In UK B2B Experian benefited from its capabilities in pre-qualification services, decisioning software such as PowerCurve and in analytics. Consumer Services moderated its rate of decline with growth in CreditMatcher partially offsetting lower credit monitoring revenues. Experian will also have gained customers following last year’s well-publicised data breach at rival Equifax. The company has left its full-year guidance unchanged.