Experian 2008 Annual Report Download - page 11

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9Experian Annual Report 2008
Financial statements
65 – 144
Governance
38 – 64
Introduction
2 – 5
Business review
Chief Executive’s review
Business review
Chief Executive’s review
Chris Callero, who has successfully
led and expanded our North
America and Latin America
businesses, has been promoted
to the role of President and Chief
Operating Officer, Experian Group.
Victor Nichols, who joined Experian
a year ago from Wells Fargo, has
become CEO for the combined
UK and EMEA region. Victor also
retains accountability for Marketing
Services and Interactive globally.
Financial performance
Despite the market challenges,
we delivered a good financial
performance during the year:
We delivered organic revenue
l
growth of 4%.
We delivered continuing EBIT margin
l
in line with the prior year at 21.8%.
EBIT conversion into operating
l
cash flow was 95%.
We continued to invest in the
business through the income
statement, capital expenditure and
acquisitions. Capital expenditure
was US$344m, in line with previous
guidance. Acquisition expenditure
was US$1.7bn, including the 70%
stake in Serasa, Hitwise, Tallyman,
N4 Solutions and a number of
smaller infills. Acquisitions in the
year are currently trading at least
to plan, and Serasa is on plan for
revenue and exceeds EBIT buy plan.
Summary
This has been a challenging year in
many ways. The major disruption
that took place in the financial
services sector was unprecedented,
impeding our revenue growth
trajectory, but we delivered good
profit and cash performances.
Experian is a strong business
performing well in difficult markets,
and while it is still too early to call a
turn in the US and the UK financial
services markets, we have taken
the necessary steps to reduce
costs and protect margins. We also
expect strong performances in
the current year in other Experian
regions and in key business lines.
In the meantime, we will keep a tight
rein on costs, while continuing
to invest in the long-term growth
of the business. Experian is a
business with excellent future
growth opportunities and we are
highly confident about our future
prospects.
Expanding Experian’s data assets with online
competitive intelligence
In June 2007, Experian acquired Hitwise, a leading online
competitive intelligence service, operating in the US,
UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Hitwise enables over 1,400 clients to benchmark their online
performance against competitors and, most importantly, to
uncover new business opportunities by understanding how
people interact daily with over one million websites across 160
industries.
Over the next 18 months, Hitwise will be expanding its global
footprint into new markets and launching a range of new
online competitive intelligence tools to continue to help clients
maximise their online marketing spend.