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Experian is a global business services company, operating in four main areas: Credit Services; Decision Analytics; Marketing Solutions; Interactive. The group is perhaps best known for its credit checking operation that enables consumers to identify their credit score. Headquartered in Dublin, Experian was formerly part of the GUS group until being demerged in October 2006.

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Brokers views:

.... 7 September 2007

Analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities maintain their "buy" rating on Experian while reducing their estimates for the company. The target price has been reduced from 723p to 614p. In a research note published yesterday, the analysts mention that the recent decline in Experian's share price seems to be overdone, despite a rise in risks associated with the company. The consumer credit markets are currently much more resilient than is believed by the market, the analysts say. The EPS estimates for 2008 and 2009 have been reduced by 4% and 9%, respectively.

17 August 2007

Goldman Sachs reiterates its buy stance with price of 665 pence. In a note published this morning, Goldman Sachs said that Experian has underperformed the FTSE 100 by 15% since its de-merger from GUS at the end of 2006, and is at the bottom of its trading range. The broker added that Experian is less cyclical, more cash generative and has greater cross-selling and balance sheet opportunities than many investors believe.

31 July 2007

UBS says it is a complex business that needs more detailed analysis. Having done this it has raised its price target to 750p from 710p and remains a buyer.

16 July 2007

Citigroup describes the firm as the curates egg as it restates its buy and 680p a share price target. Broker says: We slightly downgrade our profit forecasts to reflect slightly lower organic growth forecasts in the higher margin areas, partly offset by the small positive effect of moving our currency assumption to $2.02 from $1.99.

12 July 2007

Numis ascribes a take-out price of 720p, but reckons the shares are only worth 670p on fundamentals. As for the trading statement, it says: Although the company has made a good start to the year, it is still early days and for the time being we are likely to keep our forecasts broadly unchanged. For 2008 we are expecting PBT of 425m giving EPS of 32.5p, rising to 2009 PBT of 487m giving EPS of 37.2p.

27 June 2007

Deustche Bank lifts its price target to 723p from 701p after the Serasa deal. Broker says buy.

27 June 2007

Upgraded to buy from neutral with a price target of 710p a share, up from 680p.

26 June 2007

The acquisition of a 65% stake in Brazils Serasa gets the thumbs up. While multiple - 26 times EBIT - seems a bit steep, the rationale looks good. Gives the group 60pc of the credit checking market in one of Latin Americas largest economies. Merrill Lynch and Panmure both keep their buy recommendations.

13 June 2007

Morgan Stanley has initiated coverage of the credit checker with an overweight recommendation and 732p a share price target.

12 June 2007

Deutsche Bank has initiated the credit checker as a buy with a 710p a share price target.

24 May 2007

Citigroup has raised its recommendation to buy from hold and upped its price target to by a quid to 680p after results yesterday.

23 May 2007

Not much to say. Cazenove restates its in-line recommendation after results. It says: We feel a glacial de-rating may continue, but we feel there is not enough downside for a large trade; we do not think -15% underperformance is likely as we feel at this stage that estimates are safe and that new buyers would enter at above the 08E PE of 14.4x that -15% underperformance implies.

18 May 2007

Killick & Co has launched what it calls a tactical buy on Experian. I let the broker explain: The company, which demerged from GUS in October 2006, has built up a suite of proprietary databases and related services which we believe represent a substantial barrier to entry.It is also generating impressive rates of growth, which we believe are sustainable: in 2H07 (March year-end) sales are expected to have grown by 12% on a constant currency basis, of which 8% is organic.

19 April 2007

Goldman Sachs lifts the credit checkers price objective to 672p from 651p and keeps it on the conviction buy list. Says both UK and US credit businesses are doing well, which more than makes up for the poor performance of the firms Lower My Bills division.

17 April 2007

Credit Suisse restates its outperform and 700p a share price target after the figures today. Broker says: The key metric is the group organic growth rate which was reported at 8%, versus our estimate of 9%. This compares to 9% reported in Q3, which would suggest c7% organic growth in Q4, reflecting a weak performance in LowerMyBills.

15 March 2007

Citigroup goes to hold from sell after the shares fell in the wake of the sub-prime lending scare in the US. Only a small proportion of its business is in so called trailer park loans, but the mere mention is enough to unnerve skittish investors. Broker says: With the fall in the stock over the last month, the shares have reached our target price. Given the FCF yield support, 5.7% for 2008E, we move to Hold/ Medium Risk but keep our target price at 580p.

15 January 2007

Citigroup restates its sell advice with a 580p price target.

9 January 2007

Goldman Sach initiates the credit checker as a buy. Reckons US mortgage market concerns overdone as is the fact it has made acquisitions at some fairly racy multiples. Broker says: 'Its underleveraged balance sheet and excellent cash generation also mark Experian out as a potential LBO candidate, in our view. We initiate with a Buy recommendation and a 12-month, APV and multiples-based price target of 651p.'

good company - good price -good value

Agreed - Agreed - Agreed!

....and agreed some more !!!!

With the share price so low this is definitely my stock of the moment. Interim results are end of next month and with such a well respected management team you can be reasonably sure that the share price will be given a new injection of life !!

tipped this one to go higher

I can't help feeling that a very strong surge in the share price is immanent. There was also talk of a bid for Experian a short while ago and at the present price there could well be a follow-up to this shortly.

This is a cracking company with top management team and tons of promise. I'm not ramping it - just take a look around at what any qualified reporter says. To clarify the present oo-ah re credit raters, Experian has no connection with credit rating whatsoever and is merely engaged in a credit checking operation that simply enables consumers to identify their credit score.

Here's what Goldman Sachs said on Friday;

"Goldman Sachs reiterates its buy stance with price of 665 pence. In a note published this morning, Goldman Sachs said that Experian has underperformed the FTSE 100 by 15% since its de-merger from GUS at the end of 2006, and is at the bottom of its trading range. The broker added that Experian is less cyclical, more cash generative and has greater cross-selling and balance sheet opportunities than many investors believe."

What is the reason for the steady drop during July/Aug?

Harrycat, there is no valid reason - which is why Goldman Sachs is saying it is undervalued.

I agree that this is a solid stock, but if the current downturn in the sp is due to the downturn in the stock market, then there may still be further to fall for both.

......and if the market goes UP -as it now seems to be doing - then the sp will rise, and probably quite dramatically.

I was beginning to wonder if anyone else had spotted this: -With subprime issues causing problems for lenders they are going to be requiring more detailed information about prospective borrowers in future. That means extra fees and more money in the bank for Experian.
A good time to accumulate.

This point did cross my mind and is a good point HP. Belatedly, I suspect, Experian services are being used in more detail to access credit risk. Personally,I use their security service which, advises me if anyone has ask them for a credit assessment . This serves as an early alert to credit fraud.

A very strong performer the past few days. Very cheap today for such a good quality company. More good results out next month which will help the sp too.

Experian is due a jump up in share price.

One thing's for sure - this is certainly the best FTSE100 stock to trade.

This one is flying - and there's much more to come !!!!

Looks like the market is not impressed with EXPN's growth - a meagre 17%...down to 500p now.


Experian H1 total growth up 17 pct, FY profit in line with internal hopes UPDATE - AFX

(Updates with performance by geography, Serasa integration comment)

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Experian Group PLC, the world's largest credit reference checking company, posted a 17 pct rise in first-half sales from continuing activities at actual exchange rates and said its full-year profit will be in line with internal expectations.

For the period to Sept 30, group sales from continuing activities at constant exchange rates grew 14 pct, with organic sales growth of 6 pct.

The company said that excluding LowerMyBills, which was affected by the slowdown in the US mortgage market, group organic sales growth would have been 2 pct points higher during the period.

Chief executive Don Robert said: 'While the revenue environment is tougher, we remain focused on delivering profit in line with our expectations for the year as a whole.'

Experian said it has delivered a robust performance in the first half against a more challenging market backdrop in the US and the UK, particularly for LowerMyBills.

At its US Interactive division, organic growth slowed to high single-digit reflecting the impact on LowerMyBills of the US sub-prime mortgage market where the outlook remains challenging.

In the UK, the market environment for financial services remain challenging, affecting Experian's credit and marketing-related activities.

The company said however, that notwithstanding this, UK Credit Services performed well with low single-digit organic sales growth in the first half.

The company's US sales rose 6 pct in total and 5 pct organically.

At Credit Services, growth in non-mortgage activities, account management and collections offset accelerating decline in mortgage origination.

Experian said that Decision Analytics delivered double-digit organic growth against very strong comparatives, while Marketing Solutions improved further in with low single-digit organic growth.

Latin America, which is reported as a separate geographical segment since the acquisition of Serasa, recorded sales of 102 mln usd with organic growth at constant exchange rates of 46 pct.

The company said that the integration of Serasa is on track and that the business performed well in the period.

Experian shares closed Tuesday at 543 pence valuing the company at 5.57 bln stg. The company will issue its first-half report on Nov 15.

By Anita Likus: anita.likus@thomson.com

Just seen Working Lunch (BBC2) & they attribute the drop to anxiety over EXPN's exposure to the U.S. sub-prime market, yet the traders news today says it is just profit taking after release of the H1 report.
Could be a nervous H2, imo, but EXPN seem to be performing well & I think worth short term investment. Any more sub-prime scares and it could well take a hit.