YouGov points to maiden divi as revenue lifts
YOUGOV yesterday posted strong revenue growth for the six months to 31 January, led by the UK and the US, and said it would pay out its first dividend at the end of this financial year.
The internet-based market research business saw revenues jump 11 per cent to £29.9m.
But group profits swung £20,000 into the red for the half year period, compared to a profit of £55,000 last year, due to expansion costs.
The company’s British arm grew revenues 21 per cent to £7.7m due to growth in its international work with major clients such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and its successful investment in SixthSense, a market reports business.
The research company’s US unit rolled in an extra 15 per cent organically, but revenues jumped 35 per cent to £9.6m including the acquisition of Definitive Insights in April last year.
YouGov said the technology sector was a main driver of revenue growth, due to clients such as Google, Microsoft and Panasonic.
BrandIndex, the firm’s tracker of public opinion about companies, continued to attract new clients, including Peugeot in the UK and Subway in the US.
YouGov also announced the launch of SOMA, a new social media analysis tool which will “get robust and meaningful data out of Twitter and Facebook ‘noise’”, said chief executive Stephan Shakespeare, who writes a weekly column for City A.M.