John Peace, Chairman of Experian, said:
“We are delighted that the demerger and equity issue were successfully completed in October. Experian operates in many growth markets, has a global leadership position and a clear strategy to capitalise on the opportunities available to it around the world.”
Commenting on the performance of Experian, Don Robert, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Experian made good strategic and operational progress in the first half of the year, executing well against our plans. Looking forward, while we face specific challenges in some of our markets, we are on track for the full year and remain confident in our ability to deliver sustainable growth for our shareholders.”
On 10 October 2006, the separation of Experian Group Limited (Experian) and Home Retail Group was completed by way of demerger. As part of the demerger, Experian Group Limited became the ultimate holding company of GUS plc and related subsidiaries and shares in GUS plc ceased to be listed on the London Stock Exchange on 6 October 2006. Experian Group Limited was incorporated and registered on 30 June 2006 under the Jersey Companies Law as a public company limited by shares. Trading in shares in Experian on the London Stock Exchange’s market for listed securities commenced on 11 October 2006.
As a result of the demerger, there are two sets of financial information presented in this interim results announcement. The commentary on the following pages relates to Part One.
Part One: Unaudited financial information for Experian
In order to demonstrate the historical results of Experian, unaudited financial information for Experian is set out in Part One. This has been prepared on a basis consistent with the Experian information included in its prospectus dated 14 September 2006. As previously indicated, this information is presented in US dollars.
This extracted financial information may not be representative of future results. The historical capital structure does not reflect the future capital structure. Future interest income and expense, certain operating expenses, tax charges and dividends may be significantly different from those that resulted from Experian being wholly owned by GUS plc.
Part Two: Unaudited financial information for GUS plc
To comply with listing requirements, consolidated financial information in respect of GUS plc and its subsidiaries, including Experian and Home Retail Group, is set out in Part Two. This financial information is reported in sterling as that was the reporting currency of GUS plc throughout the period presented.
The financial information included in Part Two in respect of the year ended 31 March 2006 will form the basis of the comparative information for inclusion in the first Annual Report of Experian Group Limited which will be published in June 2007. For the purpose of that document, the information will be re-presented in US dollars.
See Appendix 2 for definition of non-GAAP measures used throughout this announcement and Appendix 3 for reconciliation of sales and EBIT by geography.
| Experian | ||
| Don Robert | Chief Executive Officer | 020 7495 0070 |
| Paul Brooks | Chief Financial Officer | |
| Fay Dodds | Director of Investor Relations | |
| Finsbury | ||
| Rollo Head | 020 7251 3801 | |
| James Wyatt-Tilby | ||
There will be a presentation today at 10.30am to analysts and investors at the King Edward Hall, Merrill Lynch Financial Centre, 2 King Edward Street, London, EC1A 1HQ. The presentation can be viewed live on the Experian website at www.experiangroup.com and can also be accessed live via a dial-in facility on 44 (0)20 8322 2180. The supporting slides and an indexed replay will also be available on the website later in the day.
There will be a conference call to discuss the results at 3.00pm today with a recording available later on the website. All relevant Experian announcements are also available on www.experiangroup.com.
Experian will issue its Third Quarter Trading Update on 10 January 2007. Its Preliminary Results for the year to 31 March 2007 will be announced on 23 May 2007.
Certain statements made in this announcement are forward looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward looking statements.