YouGov

AIM: YOU

Market Cap£1,081m

Last Close 980p

YouGov is an international research data and analytics group. Its data-led offering supports and improves a wide spectrum of marketing activities of a customer base including media owners, brands and media agencies. It works with some of the world’s most recognised brands.

Investment summary

YouGov’s FY22 results (July year-end) showed 20% underlying revenue growth, boosted to 31% by currency. Progress was good in all three segments, with a particularly encouraging performance in Custom Research, which is increasingly about connected data rather than one-off projects. FY23 is the last year of YouGov’s FYP3 strategic plan, with some elements of the ambitious built-in targets easier to achieve than others. A new FY24–26 plan is being drawn up, overseen by CEO Stephan Shakespeare, who transitions to the role of chair at end FY23. The share price performance has been affected by the market rotation out of high growth tech stocks.

Y/E Jul	Revenue (£m)	EBITDA (£m)	PBT (£m)	EPS (p)	P/E (x)	P/CF (x)
2021A	169.0	45.9	31.1	21.1	46.4	23.8
2022A	221.1	61.6	34.6	23.2	42.2	15.7
2023E	255.0	73.2	51.4	33.0	29.7	14.1
2024E	290.0	82.4	60.0	38.8	25.3	12.9

Industry outlook

The momentum remains positive, with plenty of new initiatives and iterative improvements on existing elements in the offering. That said, the economic mood has obviously darkened and there is significant upward pressure on operating costs through labour cost inflation, with data specialists, in particular, in short supply. To some extent this is mitigated by the investment that the group has made in its CenX (centres of excellence), the latest of which is opening in Mexico, with the ability to meet servicing requirements in multiple time zones and multiple languages.

Last updated on 30/11/2022