2
February 2024
YouGov plc
("YouGov"
or "the Group" or "the Company")
Half-year Trading Update and
Notice of Results
Continued growth momentum
against a difficult macro-economic environment
YouGov remains confident in
achieving full year expectations
YouGov, the international research
and data analytics group, today issues a trading update for the six
months ended 31 January 2024.
YouGov has seen resilient
performance during the period, despite the continued challenging
macro-economic environment. Encouragingly, we continue to see sales
momentum in the technology sector, while some other sectors have
been more challenging. The Group's performance has been driven by
stable demand in our Data Products and Research divisions, while
discretionary spend continues to be impacted by general market
softness.
The Company has delivered revenue
growth in the business on a like-for-like basis, after accounting
for the impact of M&A and FX headwinds. Reported revenue for
the first half will be strong and we have continued to invest in
the business, in particular on staff costs. As we move into the
second half, the focus on our commercial rigour, supported by the
recent appointment of a Chief Commercial Officer, will be central
to our operations and in further strengthening the Group's
foundations to deliver on our third long-term strategic
plan.
On 9 January 2024, YouGov completed
its transformational acquisition of the Consumer Panel Services of
GfK GmbH ("CPS GfK") and has since seen a positive response from
both employees and clients. The integration process has commenced,
and our combined teams are collaborating on commercial
opportunities to capitalise on the benefits of the enhanced value
proposition. CPS GfK's clients will benefit from the depth of
YouGov's profiling, media consumption and brand data, as well as
its reach in the US, which remains our key strategic growth area.
Similarly, YouGov clients will benefit from one of the richest
behavioural data sets on FMCG and retail consumer insights through
CPS GfK. The acquisition will support YouGov's
continued growth by expanding our combined offering to existing
clients in our current markets, as well as the opportunity to win
new clients and roll out into new markets. The acquired
business has been trading ahead of expectations since the
acquisition announcement in July 2023.
The Board remains cognisant of the
challenging market conditions and client budget pressures as we
move into the second half of the financial year. Clients are
increasingly looking for high-quality, data-driven solutions, and
while we continue to experience longer sales cycles, we remain
confident in our products and our sales momentum which, after a
slow Q1, has significantly accelerated in Q2. Therefore, we remain
confident in achieving current market expectations for the full
year, underpinned by our robust sales pipeline as of January
2024.
Notice of Results
YouGov will publish its results for
the six months ended 31 January 2024 on 26 March 2024.
Enquiries:
YouGov plc
Steve Hatch, CEO
Alex McIntosh, CFO
Hannah Jethwani, Investor Relations
Director
|
020 7012 6000
|
FTI
Consulting
Charles Palmer / Valerija Cymbal /
Jemima Gurney
|
020 3727 1000
|
Deutsche Numis (NOMAD and Joint broker)
Nick Westlake / Iqra
Amin
|
020 7260 1000
|
Berenberg (Joint Broker)
Mark Whitmore / Richard Andrews /
Alix Mecklenburg-Solodkoff
|
020 3207 7800
|
About YouGov
YouGov is an international online
research data and analytics technology group headquartered in
London and with 1,800 staff located in 37 offices around the
world.
Our mission is to offer unparalleled
insight into what the world thinks.
Our innovative solutions help the
world's most recognised brands, media owners and agencies to plan,
activate and track their marketing activities better.
With operations in the UK, the
Americas, Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia Pacific, we have
one of the world's largest research networks.
At the core of our platform is an
ever-growing source of consumer data that has been amassed over our
twenty years of operation. We call it Living Data. All of our
products and services draw upon this detailed understanding of our
26 million registered individuals to deliver accurate, actionable
consumer insights.
As innovators and pioneers of online
market research, we have a strong reputation as a trusted source of
accurate data and insights. Testament to this, YouGov data is
regularly referenced by the global press, and we are the most
quoted market research source in the world.
YouGov. Living Consumer Intelligence.
For further information, visit
business.yougov.com