Daily Research News Online no. 34928 - Ipsos Anticipates Good Year Despite Q1 Revenue Dip

Ipsos Anticipates Good Year Despite Q1 Revenue Dip

April 20 2023

Ipsos has reported a 2.9% drop in Q1 revenues to EUR 532m, with organic decline of 2.8%. The firm had said when presenting its 2022 annual results that it anticipated a 'tougher first quarter'. The total is still 26% up on the figure for Q1 2019, pre-Covid, and Ipsos says it expects annual growth of c.5%.

Ipsos Anticipates Good Year Despite Q1 Revenue Dip Reasons included the end of large Covid pandemic contracts; 'very strong' organic growth in Q1 2022 as a result of the 'post-pandemic rebound'; clients showing a 'wait-and-see' approach to spending; and China's recovery following the abandonment of the zero-Covid policy. Ipsos suggests that given the cyclical nature of its business and the smaller scope of the first quarter, revenue growth in this quarter is not representative of growth for the year.

Revenue by Quarter

Revenue by quarter (In millions of euros)	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019
1^st quarter	532.0	547.8	466.3	428.7	422.1
2^nd quarter		574.0	527.0	357.3	481.3
3^rd quarter		601.5	526.3	468.6	499.4
4^th quarter		682.1	627.1	582.9	600.5
Total		2,405.3	2,146.7	1,837.4	2,003.3

Performance by Region

By region, Ipsos' activity in EMEA showed an organic decline of 6%, which it said was adversely affected by the war in Ukraine and the end of the major Covid contracts in this region. Excluding the effect of these contracts, the firm reported 'underlying' organic growth of more than 1%.

The Americas was the only one of Ipsos' four geographical blocks showing organic growth (1%), and this reflected the 'contrasting realities' of what Ipsos says was very strong performance in Latin America (organic growth of more than 9%) and 'generally stable activity' in North America.

Performance by Region

In millions of euros	Revenue Q1 2023	Contribution	Change Q1 2023/Q1 2022	Organic growth	Organic growth Q1 2022 vs. Q1 2021
EMEA	229.8	43%	-8.7%	-6%	5%
Americas	211.6	40%	5.0%	1%	22%
Asia Pacific	90.6	17%	-4.1%	-2%	15%
Annual Revenue	532.0	100%	-2.9%	-2.8%	12.3 %

Performance by Audience

Ipsos says activity among two audience groups - 'Clients and Employees' and 'Consumers' - remained broadly stable after what it describes as a very strong performance last year. 'Citizens' - research for government and the public sector - fell by 13%, reflecting the end of the large Covid contracts in March last year. However, excluding these work for the Public Sector grew by 8% (organic). Finally, Ipsos' business with Doctors and Patients was down by 5%, said to be partly due to delays in decision-making by certain major clients in the pharmaceutical industry.

Performance by Audience

In millions of euros	Revenue Q1 2023	Contribution	Organic growth vs. Q1 2022	Organic growth Q1 2022 vs. Q1 2021
Consumers ¹	251.0	47%	1%	20%
Clients and employees ²	117.3	22%	0%	17%
Citizens ³	85.9	16%	-13%	-7%
Doctors and patients⁴	77.9	15%	-5%	11%
Annual Revenue	532.0	100%	-2.8%	12.3%

Breakdown of Service Lines by audience segment: 1 - Brand Health Tracking, Creative Excellence, Innovation, Ipsos UU, Ipsos MMA, Market Strategy & Understanding, Observer (excl. public sector), Social Intelligence Analytics, Strategy3 2 - Automotive & Mobility Development, Audience Measurement, Customer Experience, Channel Performance (including Mystery Shopping and Shopper), Media development, ERM, Capabilities 3 - Public Affairs, Corporate Reputation 4 - Pharma (quantitative and qualitative)

Outlook

In a statement, the company said: 'While we are subject to the vagaries of global uncertainties and despite the tough comparison with Q1 2022, we remain confident in our ability to achieve organic growth of around 5% and an operating margin of around 13% this year'.

Web site: www.ipsos.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.