NEWS15 May 2014
GERMANY — GfK has reported a “satisfactory” first quarter, with revenue down 3.7% to €334.9m but adjusted operating profit up 2.7% to €23.6m.
CEO Matthias Hartmann (pictured) said that a “strategic realignment of the product portfolio [had] affected the sales trend”, however, he said that the realignment had “the intended positive effect on the company’s performance”.
The Consumer Experiences business line – where most of the changes are being implemented – reported sales down 6.9% to €192.5m, which includes 3.2 percentage points of negative currency effects.
In the Consumer Choices sector, meanwhile, organic sales growth was 4.2%, but currency effects reduced growth to 1.3%, with sales totalling €141.6m for the quarter.
By region:
- Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Turkey and Africa increased sales by 1.2% to €30.4m
- Latin American sales totalled €12.7m, down 9%
- Northern Europe decreased by 2.8% to €136.3m
- Southern and Western European sales fell 2.2% to €62.9m
- North America saw sales decline by 11.8% to €56.2m
- Asia and the Pacific revenue grew 2.2% to €36.4m