Experian sales climb, confident on future

Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:44am EDT

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LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - Credit-information firm Experian (EXPN.L) posted a 12 percent rise in second-half sales on Tuesday and said it was confident about the future, though it continued to face challenging conditions in some of its markets.

Experian, spun out of conglomerate GUS in October, said organic sales growth in the six months to March 31 2007 came in at 8 percent, broadly in line with 7 percent in the first half, excluding businesses sold, closed or identified for closure.

Experian collects and analyses credit and marketing data and has said it would look for "complementary" acquisitions. The firm bought five businesses in the six months to March, but it gave no update in Tuesday's statement on talks announced last month with Brazilian credit bureau Serasa.

In the Americas, where Experian makes more than half its revenue, sales rose 12 percent, though organic sales at its interactive division were hit by the impact on LowerMyBills of the turmoil in the U.S. subprime mortgage market.

LowerMyBills, which gives advice on mortgages, loans, debt consolidation and debt relief, saw sales flat in the third quarter but down 8 percent in the fourth quarter.

Sales in Britain and Ireland grew 14 percent. Experian said it plans to integrate its UK marketing data, processing and database management activities would mean cutting about 100 jobs "over time", with costs expected to be $12 million.

((Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques Editing by Quentin Bryar;

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