Equifax 2011 Annual Report Download - page 3

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 3 of the 2011 Equifax annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 80

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80

TO OUR
SHAREHOLDERS
>While the global economy continued to fluctuate
in 2011, this past year Equifax has again proven its
ability for substantive growth despite uncertain
economic conditions. Knowledge-driven decision
tools are highly valued in an unpredictable
atmosphere, creating heightened demand for
our data, analytics and technology solutions.
Throughout the year we achieved significant
growth across all of our lines of business, confirm-
ing the strength and relevance of our strategy built
broadly on innovation and disciplined execution.
Our combined revenues, excluding Brazil, grew
8% to $2 billion with an operating margin of 24%,
up from 23% in 2010. This performance drove
9% growth in adjusted earnings per share from
continuing operations.
The foundation of our business is the market’s
need for sophisticated platforms for making critical
decisions in such areas as lending, marketing, customer management
and human resource applications. In 2011, we bolstered our capabilities for
both the near- and long-term with strategic acquisitions to expand our delivery
of deep, high-value insights about consumers and commercial enterprises,
uniquely available from Equifax. We enlarged our customer base, expanded
further in vertical market segments other than financial, advanced our leadership
in geographic markets around the world, and reinforced our position as a global
provider of information solutions that enhance business success.
The last half-decade has shown that whether the economic climate is healthy
or uncertain, there is strong demand across many sectors for highly actionable,
data-grounded insights to help inform decision making. These opportunities
are being seized by our highly experienced leadership team executing critical
strategic initiatives. Our growth momentum has resilience in all phases of the
business cycle and, therefore, is Growth You Can Count On.
STRENGTH THROUGH INNOVATION
Innovation continues to be a key driver of our growth. New Product Innovation
(NPI) is firmly established as a pillar of the Equifax culture, with the critical NPI
metric for each business unit being to generate 10% or more of its annual
revenue from products that were launched in the prior three years. In 2011,
total NPI revenue hit a record $181 million as 69 new products were launched
to drive growth over the coming three-year period.
NPI is one of the ways we help customers overcome problems that couldn’t
be solved in the past—problems that lacked critical information or were
addressed with less sophisticated analytics, resulting in increased cost or
“Our growth momentum
has resilience in all
phases of the business
cycle and, therefore,
is Growth You Can
Count On.”
1EQUIFAX 2011 ANNUAL REPORT 1