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Experian PLC on Wednesday said profit fell in the first six months of its current financial year despite revenue growth, as a result of adverse interest rate movements. The Dublin-based consumer credit checker said pretax profit in the six months that ended September 30 was $718 million, falling 5.9% from $763 million last year. This was due to ‘non-cash movements in the fair value of our interest rate swaps, as well as movements on put options and a devaluation of the Brazilian real exchange rate’. However, revenue increased 6.1% to $3.63 billion from $3.42 billion the year before, and benchmark revenue grew 6.5% to $3.62 billion from $3.40 billion. Total benchmark earnings before interest and tax rose 7.7% to $999 million from $928 million, while benchmark Ebit for ongoing activities was $1.01 billion, up 8.4% from $932 million. ‘We have driven growth through new product innovation, client wins and consumer expansion, despite a credit supply backdrop that remains subdued,’ said Chief Executive Officer Brian Cassin. Experian declared an interim dividend of 19.25 US cents per share, up 6.9% year-on-year from 18.00 US cents. CEO Brian Cassin continued: ‘We delivered good growth in the first half. We continue to execute successfully on our growth strategy to introduce new products, deploy advanced analytics and scale our leading platforms. At constant currency and from ongoing activities, revenue was up 6.1%, benchmark Ebit increased 8.4%, and benchmark Ebit margin was up by 60 basis points. Currency was a 1% headwind to revenue and total benchmark Ebit. Benchmark earnings per share increased by 8% at actual exchange rates. ‘For financial 2025, we continue to expect organic revenue growth in the range of 6% to 8%. Based on our progress, we are raising our margin outlook, and now expect margin accretion to be towards the upper end of our +30 to +50 basis points guidance range. All measures are at constant exchange rates and on an ongoing basis.’ Experian outlined its medium-term targets of organic revenue growth in the high single-digits, and capital expenditure at around 7% of its revenue. Broker Shore Capital has forecast full-year revenue of £7.52 billion, which would be a 5.9% increase from £7.10 billion, last year, and adjusted pretax profit of £1.95 billion, up 8.9% from £1.79 billion. Shares in Experian were down 1.2% at 3,816.90 pence each in London on Wednesday morning. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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