Ipsos in Full Sail Again with GfK Units On Board

Ipsos has reported organic growth of 3% in the third quarter of the year. Reported revenue rose fully 16.7% to EUR 499.4m, driven by the acquisition of units of GfK since last year, and to a lesser extent by that of Synthesio and by currency effects.

Last October was a busy month for acquisitions, with the global group buying four global divisions of GfK Custom Business Research - Customer Experience, Experience Innovation, Health, and Public Affairs - for a total of EUR 105m; and social media analyst Synthesio for more than $50, in cash shortly after. Between them, these two buys accounted for 11.7% of the reported Q3 2019 growth, while falls in the Euro added two percent.

Revenue for the first nine months of the year was up 15.5% to EUR 1,402.7m, with acquisitions accounting for 10.7%, currency effects 2% and organic growth 3%.

By region, Q3 growth was similar to the figures published for the first half of 2019, with growth across regions but stronger in Asia Pacific than in the Americas or EMEA. Emerging markets recorded growth of 4.6% in the first nine months, versus 2.2% for developed countries, but the gap is narrowing as the year progresses - with 'standout performances' in the US and the UK. Over time, however Ipsos says the fastest expansion is in India, China, Russia and other smaller 'emerging' markets.



By segment, 'Citizens' (public opinion, social research and the assessment of public policies) continued to grow at the fastest pace, ahead of the 'Doctors and Patients' segment.



Ipsos says integration of the GfK units has affected profitability, but has gone according to plan and is now completed; and that its 'Total Understanding project' put in place at the start of 2019 to align the company with new uses of data, is 'having the desired positive impact'. The company has good liquidity, with cash of EUR106m and over EUR 400m in unused credit lines, as of 30th September: and says that 'If exchange rates remain stable between now and end-December', it anticipates total revenue for 2019 in excess of EUR 2 billion. The latter would mean the group has doubled revenue in less than ten year - it passed EUR 1bn in 2010.

Ipsos is present in 90 markets and now employs more than 18,000 people. Web site: www.ipsos.com .

Pictured: founder, Chairman and CEO Didier Truchot

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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