Good Growth for GfK in 2011

GfK has announced revenue up 6.2% to EUR 1.374 billion in 2011, in preliminary figures released today. Almost all (5.8%) was organic growth. Operating income grew relatively little due to specific items including write-downs and recruitment of a new CEO.

Acquisitions added 1.2% to revenue but currency effects knocked off 0.8 percentage points.

Adjusted operating income rose slightly, up 1.8% to approximately EUR 188m, with margin slightly lower at 13.7% (2010: 14.3%) due to one-off write-downs of TV ratings software; costs relating to the new 'Own the Future' corporate strategy; and expenses of 1.8m relating to the appointment of a new CEO.

The group's Retail and Technology grew fastest, by 9.8% to EUR 407m; while Custom Research added 5.6% to reach EUR 829m revenues and Media was flat (-0.2%, EUR 133m).

Of GfK's six regions, the fastest growth came in Asia and the Pacific (8.3% organic and 2.6% from acquisitions); Central and Eastern Europe (up 12.8% organic but down 4.0% due to currency effects); and Germany (7.8% organic and another 2.7% through acquisitions). Western Europe (7.8% growth overall) and Latin America (8.5%) were also strong contributors, and North America was the only region to record a decline in sales - down 4.9% with currency effects reducing sales by a further 5.3 percentage points.

Final results will be published on March 12th. 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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