Yougov shares plummet after profit slumps
Yougov’s shares plummeted six per cent this morning after the pollster revealed profit before tax had fallen 21 per cent over the last six months.
While Yougov’s revenue jumped 34 per cent over the last six months, its underlying growth was just two per cent, it said in its interim results.
This mismatch was because of a variety of acquisitions, such as Yougov’s acquisition of CPS, a German research company that offers behavioural data on shoppers’ buying habits, for €315m (£263m) last year.
Similarly, while adjusted operating profit jumped seven per cent to £30.1m, it was down 13 per cent on an underlying basis.
The company’s share price has fallen 32 per cent since the start of the year, which led to its former chief executive stepping down unexpectedly last month amid activist pressure for a turnaround.
As a result, the group recently began a £20m cost-saving programme, looking to reduce headcount and spending with third parties.
Over the last six months, underlying revenue in the UK dropped one per cent, with growth for the firm coming instead from the Americas and Asia Pacific regions. The latter recorded a seven per cent jump in underlying revenue.
“The UK was affected by subdued government spend, but the tech and academic sectors performed well in the Americas, offsetting continued weakness in e-sports and gaming,” noted analysts at Peel Hunt.
While the group’s adjusted operating margin contracted as had been expected by markets, from 20 per cent to 16 per cent, it was still an improvement from the 11 per cent the group reported in the second half of 2024.
“While we have faced execution challenges, I am confident that our strategic growth plan is the right one to deliver on our ambition to become the universal infrastructure for data sharing,” said Yougov CEO Stephan Shakespeare.
“The board strongly believes that it has the right building blocks to achieve that long-term ambition and the hard work has only just begun.”