GfK Enjoying Strong Year

GfK has announced third quarter organic sales growth of 9.2%, up from an already strong 8.0% in the second quarter and 5.3% in the first quarter; and adjusted operating income up 27% to EUR 48.5m.

GfK says the 'highly satisfactory' results are the result of 'successful and dynamic business development' and of its strategy of focusing on measuring usage of digital media and achieving continued growth in emerging economies. 'The past nine months have developed for us in an extraordinarily positive manner' says CEO Prof. Klaus Wübbenhorst (pictured). 'For this reason we are very confident and also expect to conclude the 2010 financial year successfully.'

Third quarter sales were up 14.1% to EUR 322.5m, while EBITDA rose 42.5% to EUR 54.9m. The adjusted operating income of EUR 48.5m represents a margin of 15% (13.5% 2009). Earnings per share leapt from 0.34 to 0.61.

For the whole of the first nine months, sales rose 10.9% to EUR 932.1m, with organic growth of 7.6%, EBITDA jumped 37.6% to EUR 133.1m, and adjusted operating income climbed 34.1% to EUR 120.4m, a 12.9% margin (10.7%).

GfK is confident of reaching the upper end of its Group forecast for the year, which was revised upwards in August.

Nine month sales in the Custom Research sector rose by an impressive 10.5% to EUR 559.4m and in the third quarter income almost doubled to EUR 33.5m (EUR 17.1m 2009). The group reports a steady improvement in incoming orders and sales with particular strength in automotive, financial and IT / telecommunications sectors.

Retail and Technology sales rose 14.0% in the first nine months to EUR 270.7m; income was up 23.7% to EUR 79.4m, and margin rose from 27.1% to 29.4%. The company cites the GfK StarTrack global production and reporting system as a key reason for the good margin, and notes strong demand from telecoms and IT sectors, as well as consumer electronics and do-it-yourself.

The Media sector saw nine month sales rise a more modest 4.7% to EUR 98.3m, and a fall in income from EUR 12.5m to EUR 11.2m ( margin down from 13.4% to 11.2m). Bright spots were more orders from TV clients, a good response to the new TC Score metering technology in Germany and increased orders for North American subsidiary GfK MRI with the development of the new AdMeasure product.

GfK reports a healthy order book with 98% of budgeted annual sales by the end of October 2010, compared with 94.1% a year previously. Based on the companies included in consolidation at the start of the year and excluding currency effects, GfK expects sales to rise by up to 6% in the 2010 financial year, with a margin of up to 13.5%: significantly outperforming published stats for the MR industry as a whole.

Group home page: www.gfk.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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