Market research group, Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), has today announced that pre-tax profits for the first half of 2004 has grown by a staggering 53% to £31.8 million, putting it well on track to meet this year’s targets.
From January to June 2004, revenue growth improved by 5% as a result of encouraging improvements in all three of TNS’s operating regions, while turnover grew by 46.1% to £446 million, following the acquisition of NFO Worldgroup in July last year.
Operating profit during the period, was up by over 58% to £40.96 million, while operating margin increased by 9.2% year-on-year.
Chief executive, Mike Kirkham said: “During the first half, we have made substantial progress with the integration of NFO into the group and have delivered a significant improvement in operating margin. At the same time, we have achieved underlying revenue growth of almost 5%. The group saw encouraging revenue growth in all three regions, indicating the our markets across the world are improving.
He added: “On the custom side, there is more regional variations. Demand in the fast-developing markets of Asia Pacific remains buoyant. With some improvement in the economic environment in the Americas and Europe our markets have picked up, although the pace of change varies across markets.”
Looking ahead to the rest of 2004, Kirham said: “We expect the worldwide market for market information to grow by 3-4% in 2004. Orders secured at the end of July were ahead of those secured at the same date in 2003 and represented over 80% of our internal forecast for the year. Following a robust first half performance, the group is on track to achieve underlying turnover growth in line with the market for the year as a whole.”
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