Modest Growth for BrainJuicer

UK-based BrainJuicer Group has announced 'modest' revenue growth of 3% (constant currency) in the calendar year 2015, to £25.18m. This is the second year of slower growth for the pioneering company, which nevertheless increased profits and cash at hand.

BrainJuicer says that given its business model gross profit is a better indicator than revenue - and this grew slightly faster, up 4% to £20.25m. Profit before tax was up 5% to £4.50m, and the firm now has cash of £6.37m (as of 31st December 2015, up from £5.35m a year previously).

Geographically the firm's fortunes were mixed: in the US, gross profit grew 21% during the year, while in the UK it was flat - these two make up 72% of the total. The figure was up 11% in Brazil but declined 9% in Continental Europe and 12% in Asia.

Known for its focus on the 'System1' brain processes explained by psychologist and Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, the company enjoyed rapid and remarkable growth until 2012 when revenue was £20.7m. In the four years since it has added a total of around 21.5% to this - not bad by any but its own high standards. Last year, revenue grew just 1%.

Chairman Ken Ford said after the latest results he 'readily acknowledges that there are areas in which we can and must improve' but believes there is 'much to be encouraged about'. CEO / Chief Juicer John Kearon (pictured) pointed to underlying changes in the MR industry towards greater adoption of Behavioural Science, from which BrainJuicer can be 'a major beneficiary' in the coming years.

The company has rebranded most of its higher potential 'Juicy' products with the prefix 'System1' to emphasize the connection, and says it will no longer report the proportion of these in the whole - by way of a final figure, 'Juicy' has risen from 58.4% five years ago to around 85% of the business now, while the other 'Twist' business drops away. The new focus will be on increasing the proportion of business which is 'Ongoing' (sole supplier and regular usage) as opposed to 'Ad Hoc' (one-off projects) - as the former is 'higher margin, more predictable and [makes it] easier to win additional work from the same client'.

During 2016, the company is launching a separate creative agency, called 'System1 - Feel more: Buy More', which will source work through 'a hand-picked network of renowned creatives and creative boutiques' and guarantee its effectiveness by pre-testing all ideas through its own products. Web site: www.system1agency.com .

Kearon concludes his statement with a bold prediction: 'We believe the market research industry will change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 100 and BrainJuicer is extremely well positioned to benefit from a major system change. The growth of our core quantitative products gives us cause for continued optimism in the underlying momentum in the business and its long term upside potential'.

Also today, the company announced it will change its next accounting date to March 2017, creating a 15-month accounting period - this is to allow for a flurry of activity the Board has noticed in the last four to six weeks of each calendar year.

Web site: www.brainjuicer.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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