Good H117 progress

YouGov’s positive H117 update shows trading ahead of market expectations, resulting from good progress from data products and services and growth in the custom research margin. There has also been some currency benefit. For now, we have maintained our implied H217 numbers, meaning that our FY17e revenue forecast increases 2% and changes to the mix move our PBT estimate up 4%. FY18e numbers are edged up slightly. At 15.7x current year EV/EBITDA, the valuation is towards the top of the range of global peers (7.5x to 17.5x), which is a reflection of the strong earnings growth and cash generation.