Yougov credits US demand as revenue and earnings rise as CEO reveals five-year plan

London polling firm Yougov saw revenue and profit soar in the six months to the end of January thanks to a growing international market and an increased focus on its custom research services.

The figures

Revenue rose 18 per cent year on year to £66.5m over the half-year. Adjusted profit before tax grew 28 per cent year on year to £13.7m.

Earnings per share rose to 9.6p, up 18 per cent from 7.3p in the six months prior to the end of January.

Net cash also increased from £21.3m to £25m in the same period the previous year.

Why it's interesting

Yougov's custom research revenue increased four per cent to £30.4m, with a focus on more profitable work resulting in an operating profit jump of 15 per cent to £7.9m for the division.

Data products and services represented 54 per cent of Yougov's total revenue, with those services saw an increase of 34 per cent to £37.2m year on year.

The US is the largest market for Yougov's data products and services, growing 39 per cent from the previous year.

Yougov credited US demand for data products and services for its ability to withstand the political uncertainty that has hurt business in the UK and on the continent.

Chief executive Stephan Shakespeare said: “While Brexit continues to create uncertainty in the economic and political environment, especially for UK and European businesses, the international spread of our revenues, with a significant and growing US weighting, cushions us from volatility.”

The firm outlined a new five-year plan to customise data campaigns and make more data publicly accessible to boost awareness and engagement.

Fiona Orford-Williams, an analyst at Edison Investment Research, pointed to the pollster's improved operating margin – up to 19 per cent from 16 per cent the same period last year, saying “the syndicated data model [has started] to show its value”.

“Management has outlined ambitious new, five-year targets; looking to double group revenue and operating margin and achieve a compound annual growth rate of over 30 per cent for earnings per share,” she added.

“With the continuing investment requirement, we expect stronger progress towards these targets in the second half of the period.”

What Yougov said

Shakespeare said: “In the final year of our current five-year growth plan we are continuing to deliver revenue and earnings growth ahead of the market. Our syndicated data model has broken new ground in the industry, and as we announce targets for our next five-year plan, we are no less ambitious.

“Our aim is to deliver the best tools and the best data for our clients. Our new plan focuses on three strategic pillars to deliver on that goal: activating our data to create targetable audiences, investing in technology to ensure our data is integrated and customisable, and opening up some of our data as a public resource. We believe this will help create a universal data platform for our clients, as we look to fulfil our ambition of becoming the world’s leading supplier of proprietary panel data.”