Experian 2011 Annual Report Download - page 5

Introduction Chairman’s statement 3
Chairman’s statement
Each of our regions and four principal
business activities delivered organic
growth last year, enabling us to create
significant value for shareholders
through our strong financial
performance, a 22% dividend increase to
28 US cents per share for the full year and
a programme of share repurchases.
Experian continues to fuel progress
through a combination of innovation and
the development of new global products,
expanding into new customer segments
and extending its capabilities into new
geographies.
Product innovation is the lifeblood of the
business and we are constantly looking
for new and better ways to provide fresh
insights into the challenges faced by our
clients. Each year we invest in people,
data and technology to make this happen
and this year was no exception. I am
proud of the advances made by Experian
with products such as BusinessIQ, which
makes it easier for businesses to manage
their relationships with commercial credit
customers, and Diversity Monitor, which
helps organisations to build workforces
that truly reflect the ethnic diversity of
local communities and customers.
Most of the problems we solve, such
as helping clients to prevent fraud or
to get closer to their customers, are
universal. So, while our origins may
lie in the financial services sector, we
continue to expand into other areas
such as telecommunications, utilities,
government and healthcare. In this report
you can read how we are working with
a mobile communications company
to improve the experience of millions
of customers around the world, how
we are enabling a betting company to
authenticate subscribers to its fast
developing online business and how
Our employees are drawn from as
wide a pool as possible and we strive
to ensure that Experian’s leaders of
the future reflect the rich diversity of
our workforce. Our talent forums and
leadership development programmes
now run in all major locations and 70% of
our leadership appointments are internal
promotions.
Corporate responsibility is a high priority
for our employees and was an area of
increasing focus this year. We have taken
stock and reviewed everything from how
we manage our responsibilities to how
we describe this particular aspect of our
business. We view it not as a separate
function, but as simply our approach to
how we do business, ensuring that we take
careful account of the impact we have on
all those who are touched by our activities.
In this regard, our key objectives are to
apply Experian’s core skills to projects
with specific social benefits; to focus
our community projects on financial
education and entrepreneurship and,
above all, to embed consideration for
the wider society in our basic business
processes. This year we have seen strong
progress in all three areas and we are
reaping the benefits as our employees
become more engaged, our carbon
impacts fall and we begin to be recognised
for our ability to tackle serious issues such
as financial exclusion.
This has been another good year for
Experian. The business is growing
strongly on all fronts and continues to
build a commanding lead in its chosen
markets. Experian feels today like a
business firmly in charge of its destiny
and I congratulate the entire team on an
excellent performance.
Experian has delivered its tenth consecutive year of record earnings before interest and tax,
representing a major milestone in the company’s history. The Group remains focused on a
clear strategy for growth and is making strong progress against its strategic priorities. The
opportunities for Experian today are immense and the Group is in great shape to capitalise
on them.
we are helping a health care provider to
improve the collection of payments from
patients across Southeast Louisiana.
We are also expanding Experian’s
geographic boundaries by taking our
expertise and products into some of
the world’s great emerging consumer
economies. Today almost 30% of
our revenue comes from outside our
traditional core markets of the US and
UK. Our new credit bureau in India
opened for business during the year, in
partnership with seven of the country’s
leading financial institutions. Since then,
we have reached agreement to acquire
a controlling interest in Computec,
which will extend our bureau presence
to Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. We
have also continued to roll out global
products such as CheetahMail, our email
marketing service, and Hunter, which
detects fraudulent credit applications.
It is clear that there is no shortage
of opportunities for Experian. The
management team remains firmly
focused on the best of these and is
putting all necessary resources behind
them. In this they are backed by a deeply
engaged and supportive Board, whose
experience and insight continues to
sharpen our strategy.
Our success, of course, ultimately
depends upon the hard work of 15,000
Experian people, whose commitment
to the business is perhaps our greatest
asset. Experian’s third global people
survey achieved 88% employee
participation in 2010 and has been
followed by action plans at a regional and
global level. Particularly encouraging
was that our strongest results this time
were in areas identified as a priority for
improvement last time.
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