YouGov plc (YOU) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Hello and welcome. Thank you very much for coming. Now, I realize you're very much focused on the numbers this morning, but I want to start with this key message. Next one, there we go. I realize, as I say, you're focused on the numbers, but because I think so many people in the market believe AI is a problem for us, I want to emphasize this. We certainly believe there is great disruption in our industry, but this will favor you guys, favor us, not harm us, as we are investing in AI to maximize that opportunity. So, it's against that background of expected disruption that we have shown incredible resilience. We've reported revenue up by 2% to 194.8 million when most companies are flat or down. We're showing the statutory operating profit up by 14% and statutory profit before tax up by 14% for the revenue and profit up by 4%. Data products up 2% like for like that is excluding a discontinued product, and adjusted profit is down from half-year to 24 million, reflecting essential investment in shoppers' data-gathering methods and also investment in AI. Earnings per share is 11.4 pence, and the balance sheet is solid at nearly 33 million, positive with a negative leverage of 2.1. Profitability of course is affected by investment, partly in shopper, to keep it competitive, and partly in AI to transform the company. to be pretty extreme undervaluation of this company. We do intend to have a share buyback after refinancing. And while the macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, clients are continuing to prioritize the high-quality human data and strategic research projects that are where YouGov continues to be strongly positioned. This is a quick reminder that we had 15 years of growth, proven by innovation. That is the DNA of this company, and as I will show you a litt...