GfK with strong business trend in
difficult market conditions
|
14 August 2012
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Nuremberg, 14 August 2012 – The GfK Group recorded a sharp rise in sales
in the first half of 2012 and is therefore on track to achieve the long-term
goals of the new strategy – Own the Future.
Sales increased by 9.1 percent in the first half of the year to €720.1 million.
Implementation of the new Own the Future corporate strategy is on
schedule. A new organizational structure with global and regional responsibilities
has been created to support shared utilization of existing data and resources
as well as the transfer of expertise on various sectors, client groups and
regions among GfK experts. The second quarter too saw examples of the success
of this new cross-sectoral cooperation. Based on the new One GfK platform, a
two-year exclusive contract for surveying brand perception and advertising
effectiveness on behalf of a global leader in the consumer goods segment was
won for instance, as were worldwide surveys on sales optimization for a big car
manufacturer in the period from 2012 to 2014.
In the first six months of 2012, the Consumer Choices sector
again achieved considerable sales growth of 7.3 percent to €277.2 million, of
which 4.2 percentage points represented organic growth. Currency effects
boosting growth by a further 3.2 percentage points.
The Consumer Experiences sector recorded an increase
in sales of 10.2 percent to €440.0 million. With a contribution of 7.6
percentage points, acquisitions accounted for the major share of growth, while
currency effects added another 2.5 percentage points. In organic terms, sales
remained constant in this sector.
The distinctly difficult economic
environment led to a marked cooling of business development in the second
quarter. The GfK companies in the strategically important Asia and the Pacific
region as well as Latin America recorded the
sharpest growth. In the Asia and the Pacific
region, overall sales increased by 31.2 percent to €71.4 million. At 14.4
percentage points, organic growth in the first half of 2012 exceeded the figure
for the comparable period in the previous year. Significant organic growth of
10.2 percent was also recorded in Latin America ,
where sales of €29.6 million were achieved.
"Despite the
growing economic challenges, we are confirming our forecast for the year and in
the coming months we will focus on achieving our goals," comments Matthias
Hartmann, CEO of GfK SE.
Key figures
In the first half of 2012, the GfK Group achieved sales totaling €720.1
million. Compared with the same period in the previous year, this represents an
increase of 9.1 percent. Of this, acquisitions contributed 4.6 percentage points and
currency effects also impacted positively with 2.8 percentage points. Organic growth
amounted to 1.7 percent.
Adjusted operating income totaled €81.4
million in the first six months of 2012, which represented a decrease of 3.1
percent on the income generated in the first six months of the previous year.
The GfK Group's margin was 11.3 percent in the first half of 2012
after 12.7 percent in the same period of the previous year. The trend in the
margin during the first half of 2012 was partly caused by transformation costs.
The cost of sales includes approximately €2.8 million in development costs for
expanding the StarTrack platform and other evaluation software, the NIS
GfK Group: key figures1)
|
In €m
|
Q2
2011
|
Q2
2012
|
Change
in %
|
HY1
2011 |
HY1
2012
|
Change
in %
|
|
Sales
|
349.9
|
375.0
|
7.2
|
660.1
|
720.1
|
9.1
|
|
EBITDA
|
62.6
|
55.8
|
-10.7
|
101.4
|
97.0
|
-4.3
|
|
Adjusted operating income
|
53.5
|
47.8
|
-10.6
|
83.9
|
81.4
|
-3.1
|
|
Margin
in percent1)
|
15.3
|
12.8
|
|
12.7
|
11.3
|
|
|
Operating income
|
48.7
|
40.7
|
-16.4
|
73.6
|
67.6
|
-8.1
|
|
EBIT
|
49.8
|
41.5
|
-16.7
|
76.2
|
68.9
|
-9.6
|
|
Other financial income/expenses
|
-5.4
|
-4.2
|
-22.9
|
-6.3
|
-8.5
|
35.1
|
|
Consolidated
total income
|
30.7
|
26.8
|
-12.7
|
45.7
|
41.2
|
-9.9
|
|
Cash
flow from operating activities
|
44.5
|
24.2
|
-45.5
|
53.5
|
25.2
|
-52.8
|
|
Undiluted
earnings per share in €
|
0.75
|
0.66
|
-12.0
|
1.07
|
0.96
|
-10.3
|
|
Adjusted
earnings per share in €2)
|
0.88
|
0.86
|
-2.3
|
1.36
|
1.34
|
-1.5
|
1) Adjusted operating income in relation to sales
2) Consolidated total income attributable to equity
holders of the parent plus highlighted items divided by the weighted average
number of shares in the reporting period
Outlook
We expect that 2012 will be a
difficult year for some clients, with the volume of specific contracts being
reduced this year, or their implementation postponed. To counter this, new
business acquisition in other client segments and growth in new business fields
will be stepped up to offset these effects.
GfK’s Management Board is nonetheless
confident that, based on its new structure and strategy, the GfK Group will
once again outperform the market research sector this year and be in a position
to gain additional market shares.
GfK is assuming that there will be no
further deterioration of the global economic climate in 2012 and that exchange
rates will remain approximately at the current level until the end of this
year. Under these conditions, the company continues to anticipate a sales
volume of some €1.5 billion for 2012. This would equate to growth of around 9
percent compared with the previous year. In spite of the considerable expenses
and investment in business development, the company will endeavor to achieve a
further increase in income and to virtually match the 2011 profit margin
(adjusted operating income in relation to sales).
As part of the new strategy, the GfK Group
has also set challenging targets to be achieved in the medium term: by year-end
2015, sales totaling €2.0 billion and a profit margin of 16 percent are to be
achieved. The Consumer Experiences sector and the Consumer Choices sector,
which continues to expand at a faster rate, will both contribute to this sales
growth. Strong emphasis will be placed on increasing sales and market share in
the BRIC countries.
About GfK
GfK is one of the world’s largest research companies, with more than
11,500 experts working to discover new insights into the way people live, think
and shop, in over 100 markets, every day. GfK is constantly innovating and
using the latest technologies and the most intelligent methodologies to give
its clients the clearest understanding of the most important people in the
world: their customers. In 2011, GfK’s sales
amounted to €1.37billion.
Since 1 January 2012, GfK has been focusing on
the two complementary sectors of Consumer Choices and Consumer Experiences.
The Consumer Choices sector investigates what’s selling when and where.
It focuses on the continuous assessment of market segments and trends by
analyzing all major sales and information channels and media. The former Retail
and Technology sector and the Media sector’s TV, radio and print measurement
businesses have been folded into the new Consumer Choices sector.
The Consumer Experiences sector concentrates on consumers’ attitudes,
perceptions and behavior and answers the questions who is buying, why they are
buying and how they are buying. These are explored though highly creative,
robust and flexible methodologies. GfK is pioneering sophisticated new ways of
understanding how people experience brands and services. The former Custom
Research business and ad hoc research from the Media sector are included in
this new sector.
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