Experian 1st Half 2020 Pretax Profit Rose Slightly on Americas Momentum

   By Sabela Ojea 
 

Experian PLC (EXPN.LN) on Tuesday said trading in the first half of fiscal 2020 was stable due to strong momentum in North America and Latin America.

The FTSE 100 credit-reporting agency made a pretax profit of $480 million for the six months ended Sept. 30 compared with $470 million for the same period in fiscal 2019. The London-listed company said it benefited from a gain on an associate's business disposal, which increased its share of the post-tax profit of associates by $37 million in the period.

Revenue for the half year rose 5.9% to $2.50 billion.

Benchmark earnings before interest and taxes increased to $670 million from $649 million in the year earlier period. However, the company said it still expects it to weighted toward the second half of the year, reflecting revenue seasonality.

In Experian's core North American market, benchmark EBIT rose 11% to $544 million.

"We now expect full-year organic revenue growth in the 7%-8% range, at the upper end of our previous guidance," Chief Executive Officer Brian Cassin said. At the time of its first quarter results, the company had estimated full year-organic revenue growth in between of 6% and 8%.

The board proposed an interim dividend of 14.5 cents a share from 14 cents a share in the year-earlier period.

Write to Sabela Ojea at [e-mail]; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 12, 2019 02:45 ET (07:45 GMT)

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