YouGov reveals a 31% jump in revenue to £221.1m thanks to a ‘strong demand’ for products

YouGov has posted a 31 per cent jump in revenue for the full year to £221.1 million, thanks to a ‘strong demand’ for its products and services. 

The British market research and data analytics firm, which was founded in 2000, saw adjusted operating profit rocket 42 per cent to £36.3million, due to ‘business efficiencies and operational leverage benefits’ starting to come through.

Data products saw the biggest boost, with a 23 per cent rise in revenue to £74.1 million, while custom research revenue increased by 21 per cent to £95.6 million, and data services crept up 11 per cent to £50.7 million. 

YouGov has revealed a 31 per cent jump in revenue for the full year to £221.1 million, thanks to a ‘strong demand’ for its products and services

Despite the strong results, YouGov’s shares were down more than 4 per cent and trading at 783.00p around midday on Tuesday. 

The company, which operates in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, told investors the US remains ‘the key driver’ of performance, in line with a ‘strategic focus to expand market penetration in the region’.

On the dividend front, YouGov has recommend an increase of 17 per cent to 7p a share payable on 12 December 2022 to shareholders on the register as at 2 December 2022. 

In a bid to drive further growth, the firm has invested £8million in technology, expanded its product offerings and developed a new base in Mexico City to increase research operations for its ‘rapidly growing’ US business.

Addressing changes to the board, the company revealed its CEO and co-founder Stephan Shakespeare will take the role of chair when Roger Parry departs on 1 August 2023. 

Meanwhile, Nick Prettejohn, who joined the board in June 2022 as a non-executive director, will, at the same time, take on the role of senior independent director. Rosemary Leith, the current SID, will stay on the board following this transition.

Commenting on the full year results, CEO Shakespeare said: ‘Building on the momentum we saw towards the end of FY21, YouGov has delivered another year of strong performance in FY22 against an uncertain macro-economic backdrop. 

‘Our growth in the reported year has continued to accelerate, and we achieved further margin improvement and robust cash generation during the period.

‘Demand for YouGov’s products and services remains strong and we continue to win new clients while expanding our relationships with existing clients. As a result, we remain cautiously optimistic on our prospects for this year as we aim for further growth.

‘We continue to invest in our market-leading technology and platform and remain laser-focused in delivering on our long-term strategy to realise the full potential of our business and drive shareholder value. With regards to the Board succession, I am deeply committed to the business I co-founded over two decades ago and look forward to the next phase of our growth.’

YouGov was co-founded by Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim Zahawi, who first met while working in British politics. 

By 2009 it was highlighted as the most quoted market research source in UK media and today it has more than 20 million registered members, 1,600 employees and 39 offices worldwide.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk