GfK hails ‘excellent’ 2010 as sales pass €1.3bn

By sector, revenue in the custom research division was up 10% to €786m, while income jumped 60% to €63m. The retail and technology arm saw sales rise 13.8% to €371m, while income was up 19% to €114m.

Media research sales were up 5.3% to €133m, but there was a “slight” decline in income – 6% to €15.6m – which GfK attributed partly to expenditure on the launch of new measurement technology in Germany.

The firm saw growth in all its geographical areas, most notably in Latin America where sales rose 39.5% to €55m. Central and Eastern Europe was up 25.2% to €90m, Asia Pacific grew 22.5% to €106m, Germany was up 13% to €341m. Western Europe, the Middle East and Africa saw sales rise 5.4% to €483m while North America grew 5.9% to €219m.

Full results will be published at the end of March. Earlier this week, GfK announced that CEO Klaus Wübbenhorst (pictured) would not be extending his contract when it expires in 2012.