Strong dollar eats into Experian growth

(Reuters) - British credit information company Experian Plc (EXPN.L) said a strong dollar halved its revenue growth for the first quarter, sending the company's shares down more than 3 percent.

The company said revenue increased 14 percent for the first quarter at constant exchange rates, but it rose only 7 percent at actual exchange rates, mainly reflecting the depreciation of the Brazilian real.

The currency fell 10 percent versus the dollar in the three months ending June 30.

Experian, which reports results in dollars, gets about a fifth of its revenue from Latin America.

"There are two little bits of caution there. One on the exchange rate translation and also flat first-half margins, possibly to do with the euro zone slowdown and recession," Charles Stanley analyst Tony Shepard said.

The company said revenue from its North America business, which makes up nearly half its total revenue, grew 10 percent on a modest recovery in lending.

Experian, best known for running consumer credit checks for banks, landlords and retailers, also backed its forecast of organic revenue growth in mid- to high single-digits for the full year.

"Looking ahead we are mindful of tougher conditions in some markets, notably in the Eurozone," said CEO Don Robert.

The UK and Europe, which are also key markets for Experian, have seen their currencies fall against the dollar for most of the first half of 2012.

Experian shares, which have risen 16 percent in the last one year, were down 3 percent at 922 pence on the London Stock Exchange at 1101 GMT on Friday. They touched a low of 918.5 pence earlier in the session.

(This story corrects paragraph 10 to clarify that the company's shares have gained 16 percent and not lost 18 percent in the past year)

(Reporting by Shilpa Hinduja in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)