The strongest growth was seen in the firm’s consumer purchase data business, where takings were up 14%. Its media measurement business saw growth of 4%.

CEO David Calhoun said the results reflected “solid operating and financial performance across the company” with “robust growth” driven by investments in developing markets.

For the first half of the year Nielsen’s revenue was up 9% to $2.7bn, but operating income was down to $269m, due partly to costs relating to its initial public offering in January.

Nielsen recently announced a new deal with Walmart whereby it will have access to the retail giant’s point-of-sale data – which it has declined to share with research firms for the past ten years.