Experian 2008 Annual Report Download - page 4

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 4 of the 2008 Experian 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 148

  • 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
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148

Chairman’s statement
These have been extraordinary times
for the banking and financial services
industry. Unprecedented losses, huge
volatility, the dislocation of the inter-
bank lending market and subsequent
recapitalisation of major banks have
characterised the events of recent
months.
The extent to which the so-called
credit crunch will impact beyond the
financial sector remains to be seen,
but it is clear that this next year will be
another challenging one, particularly
for companies with exposure to the
US and UK markets, where the banks
will continue to be cautious lenders.
Within all sectors though, there
have been companies that have
performed well and I am pleased that
Experian is amongst these. Despite
the highly unusual conditions,
Experian delivered a solid financial
performance and continued to make
strong strategic progress, which is a
remarkable achievement.
Experian’s management was quick to
identify a range of efficiency measures
and to restructure certain parts of the
business so that it could better deal
with the prevailing conditions. This
will result in significant cost savings,
as well as delivering operational
efficiencies that will benefit us in the
longer term.
What this year has really shown is the
strength of Experian’s portfolio and
the many opportunities we have to
drive growth.
We have, for example, continued to
extend our global reach into new and
emerging markets. Our investment in
Serasa, Brazil’s largest credit bureau,
has provided us with a commanding
position in one of the fastest growing
credit markets in the world.
We have developed new and
innovative products for credit
managers and marketers, as well as
for consumers wanting to protect
their credit records. And we have
continued to expand into new market
sectors, such as government, energy,
telecommunications and healthcare.
In the UK alone, we won four
significant new contracts in the public
sector.
We have also made good progress
in the management of our corporate
responsibilities and in learning
how to embed these within our
everyday business processes.
Experian was selected for inclusion
in the FTSE4Good index of socially
responsible companies and the Dow
Jones Sustainability World Index.
Our carbon emissions continued
to fall, driven by improved energy
efficiency and the use of renewable
energy, and we played a leading role in
initiatives to reduce the incidence of
identity theft in the US and UK.
Experian’s performance this
year is undoubtedly testimony
to the underlying strength
of the business
2Experian Annual Report 2008