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GfK to Miss Margin Forecast
GfK has announced that based on its financial performance for the first eleven months of this year, it is no longer likely to achieve its predicted annual guidance for AOI margin (adjusted operating income based on sales).
 Instead of the 12.4% to 12.8% predicted, GfK says it now expects a margin in the range of 12% for 2015. This, it says, is mainly attributable to delays and related additional 'ramp-up' costs in its TAM contracts in Brazil and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as slower sales in its Consumer Experiences sector. In addition, GfK is discontinuing the development of network-centric measurement in the area of mobile insight/location insight because of technical difficulties which it says have prevented a 'consistent and continuous' supply of data from its two main suppliers.
The firm says write-downs resulting from these factors will adversely impact its 2015 results, although sales guidance of modest organic growth for 2015 remains unchanged. They will also affect 2016, for which GfK had been forecasting organic sales growth above market rates, and an AOI margin of between 14% and 15%. The group still expects 'considerable margin improvement', but says further analysis is required and therefore margin guidance for 2016 will be published after the year-end closing.
Web site: www.gfk.com .
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