Experian 2012 Annual Report Download - page 4

2 Experian Annual Report 2012 Business overview2 Experian Annual Report 2012 Business overview
Sustained value creation remains Experian’s
top priority and I believe we can be proud
of our achievements in this respect. In the
five years since demerger, notwithstanding
the often challenging conditions in some of
our biggest markets, Experian has provided
shareholders with returns totalling more
than 90%, which compares with an average
of 16% for the FTSE 100.
Driving growth across the Group
Expanding our operations into major
emerging consumer economies is one of
several key drivers of growth for Experian,
with over a third of our revenue now coming
from fast developing markets outside of the
US and UK. A particular highlight this year
was the acquisition of Computec, which
has expanded our credit bureau presence
into Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.
Latin America is a very attractive region
economically for us and we are finding no
shortage of further opportunities in Brazil,
where we are continuing to extend the range
of Experian products available and are now
preparing our clients for the legalised sharing
of positive credit data.
The Group has also continued its global
diversification outside of financial services
with other industry sectors now representing
68% of our revenue. We’re building
substantial businesses in sectors such as
telecommunications where operators are
focusing hard on building customer loyalty,
in the utility market where the challenge is
preventing fraud and energy theft, and in the
public sector where there is a major drive
for greater efficiency. In the US, we’re also
helping physicians and hospitals to manage
billings as patients become responsible for a
larger proportion of their healthcare bills.
We made further strides during the year
towards Experian’s goal of becoming the
global leader in digital marketing services.
In EMEA/Asia Pacific, for instance, this is
now our single largest revenue contributor
as marketers look for more cost-effective
ways to reach their customers and develop
more personalised communications. In
Brazil, we accelerated our digital marketing
development with the acquisition of Virid, the
country’s leading email marketing business.
We continued to strengthen our position
as a trusted consumer brand for helping
individuals to manage their credit profile and
protect against the threat of identity theft.
In the UK, our CreditExpert product helped
grow our Interactive revenues in the region
by 30%. I am pleased to say that we also
reached an agreement to dispose of our non-
core businesses in comparison shopping
and lead generation, maintaining the Group’s
clear strategic focus on data and analytics.
Chairman’s statement
This has been another excellent year for Experian. Each of the Group’s four regions
and four global business lines has delivered strong organic revenue growth. We
have also continued to invest throughout the business and made a number of
important strategic moves that will help secure our long-term growth.
Sir John Peace
Chairman