YouGov's revenue rises as it cautions against Brexit uncertainty

Data and analytics company YouGov’s full year revenues rose, but cautioned against Brexit uncertainty as it aims to continue expanding internationally.

In preliminary results for the year ended 31 July, revenue increased by 16% to £88.2m, compared to last year, or 12% on a constant currency basis.

The company said the Brexit vote from the EU referendum created “a more uncertain economic and political environment, especially for UK and European businesses”, but it could benefit in the short-term if sterling remains relatively low against other major trading currencies due to the international spread of revenues, especially from the US.

Taking the macro-environment and its own plans into account, the company said it is confident that it remains “well-placed to exploit opportunities for growth, especially in our data products and services business, in both our more mature markets and our newer operations”.

Revenue for data products and services rose by 32% to £34.5m, which now represents about 38% of the company's total revenue, up from 34% last year.

The BrandIndex product, which measures brand perception among the public, reported a 39% rise in revenue to £14.5m, and the Omnibus product, a quick and cost-effective way of surveying opinions, reported a 30% increase in revenue to £16.4m.

Custom research revenue was up by 9% to £54.3m.

The US market was the largest by revenue as it accounted for 42% overall, with a 20% increase to £31m.

Adjusted operating profit rose by 27% to £10.9m, adjusted profit before tax was up 46% to £13.3m and adjusted earnings per share up by 26% to 8.8p.

Cash generated from operations, before paying interest and tax, increased by 37% to £14.1m and cash conversion was 130% of adjusted operating profit.

At the end of July the net cash balance increased by 565 from last year to £15.6m.

Chief executive Stephan Shakespeare, said: "We are continuing our journey towards becoming a global data and analytics business and this will remain the focus of our investment in our technology and staff resources.

He added that trading in the current financial year started in line with the company’s expectations while it remains well positioned to continue to grow the business internationally and “exploit the potential of YouGov's connected data system”.

The company recommended a dividend of 1.4p per share, a 40% increase.

Shares in YouGov were up 1.88% to 217p at 0938 BST.