YouGov profits take a hit but pollster remains confident
Polling company YouGov has reported a fall in profit before tax of 51 per cent to £1.5m for the year ended 31 July.
Group revenue climbed eight per cent to £67.4m while current trading was in line with the board's expectations. YouGov's revenue from data products and services soared by 30 per cent and now amounts to 29 per cent of the total.
Furthermore, BrandIndex revenue rose by 53 per cent to £8m. BrandIndex provides insight on brands; Profiles will enable clients to segment and profile target markets and audiences.
Commenting on the results, Stephan Shakespeare, chief executive, said:
We're delivering what we set out to at the beginning of the year. Data products and services are growing well, with the profit contribution from these higher margin businesses matching custom research for the first time. Our geographies are performing to plan, and we have continued to expand our footprint, allowing us to continue to leverage our products internationally.
City broker Numis said the results were in line with their expectations and retained their 'Buy' rating and target price of 142p.
Numis analyst Paul Richards said:
Underlying momentum across YouGov remains strong, and we forecast organic growth of +11 per cent in 2015.