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Steve Hatch, the newly appointed chief executive of the London-listed data analytics and polling group, said YouGov was looking to take advantage of elections next year in countries including the United States and Britain.
Shares in YouGov rose more than 20% on Tuesday, valuing it at more than £950m, after the company reported a 77% rise in pre-tax profits to nearly £45m for the year to July. Revenue increased 17% year-on-year to 258.3 million pounds, in line with market consensus.
Hatch said the group’s next phase of business growth will target the United States, adding that the company currently has less than 1% of its potential market share in the country.
YouGov works with consumer and technology brands and provides detailed political coverage of voting intentions in the US and UK.
“The next few months coincide with the U.S. presidential election, which is obviously very good for our revenue potential and very good for our brand in the market. More than 2 billion people will vote in the next 12 months, and many of them will turn to us platform to understand the world.”
In the UK, a YouGov poll of voting intentions showed that Labor’s clear lead has not changed after last week’s Conservative Party conference, with 45% of voters planning to vote for the opposition party compared with 24% for the Conservatives. .
YouGov co-founder and major shareholder Stephen Shakespeare told the Financial Times earlier this year that the company was considering a US listing to help support its growth there. Hatch said on Tuesday that YouGov has been reviewing its options, but he declined to comment further.
The U.S. strategy will also be aided by the company’s planned €315 million acquisition of GfK’s consumer panel business, which is expected to close this year following review by EU competition regulators, Hatch added.
YouGov, like advertising and marketing companies, has experienced a drop in demand from technology clients over the past year. However, Hatch said those customers are now returning and “we’re getting an increase in the number of assignments we’re getting.” YouGov said on Tuesday it remained confident that its 2024 financial year would meet current market expectations.
Hatch, who was an executive at Facebook owner Meta before joining YouGov this summer, said: “When the world’s most advanced data organization appoints YouGov and expands its business with YouGov, I think it is a great opportunity for us. A good sign of confidence in the product. We have it.”
He will spend his first year working on improving the quality of the consumer panel that provides core data sets, such as targeting underrepresented groups and expanding into different product categories.
YouGov runs consumer behavior “panels” for brands, and Hatch said GfK will add additional data on purchase choices to complement its existing intent and attitude insights.
YouGov has also carved out a niche in providing viewing data to streamers such as Netflix and Disney+, which will become increasingly important as these groups roll out advertising options.
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