YouGov plc (LON:YOU), the international research and data analytics group, has announced its results for the year ended 31 July 2025.
Summary of Results
Year to31 July 2025£m | Year to31 July 2024£m | Change | UnderlyingChange¹ | |
Revenue | 388.9 | 335.3 | 16% | 1% |
Adjusted Operating Profit1 | 60.7 | 49.6 | 22% | 26% |
Adjusted Operating Profit Margin (%)1 | 16% | 15% | 100bps | – |
Statutory Operating Profit | 31.4 | 10.9 | 188% | – |
Adjusted Profit before Tax1 | 48.8 | 45.0 | 8% | – |
Statutory Profit before Tax | 18.1 | 4.0 | 353% | – |
Adjusted Basic Earnings per Share1 | 31.7p | 29.4p | 8% | – |
Statutory Basic Earnings per Share | 11.5p | (2.0p) | N.A. | – |
Operating cash generation | 63.3 | 53.9 | 17% | – |
Net debt1 | 144.0 | 148.2 | (3%) | – |
Dividend per Share | 9.25p | 9.0p | 3% | – |
1 Defined in the explanation of non-IFRS measures below.
Financial highlights
● | Strong revenue growth of 16% (FY24: 30%) on a reported basis to £388.9m, reflecting the full year impact of YouGov Shopper (formerly CPS). Underlying1 revenue growth of 1% (FY24: 3%) as we stabilised the business during a period of organisational change and leadership transition. |
● | Adjusted operating profit up 22%, slightly ahead of market expectations, with underlying1 growth of 26% as the benefits of the cost optimisation plan are realised. |
● | Adjusted operating profit margin improved to 16% (FY24: 15%). |
● | Adjusted earnings per share up 8%, at 31.7p. |
● | Robust balance sheet position maintained with cash at period end of £54.8m (31 July 2024: £73.6m) and leverage ratio1 of 1.7x net debt to EBITDA. |
Operational highlights
● | Data products division recovery – Delivered product improvements and renewed sales focus, driving the division’s return to growth through normalising renewal rates and multiple client wins; made strategic hires in data science to drive further product enhancements and maximise the value of YouGov’s panel and rich datasets. | |
● | Sales initiative – Established dedicated product specialist team to support new business wins and improve renewal rates, while redesigning incentive structures for FY26 to prioritise high-margin subscription products. | |
● | YouGov Shopper progress – Made substantial advancement on growth initiatives and integration including: | |
○ | Launch of passive, receipt-based panels in the Nordics, delivering initial commercial success. | |
○ | Developed a new marketing activation product covering key European markets. | |
○ | Substantially completed the integration of support functions into YouGov. | |
● | Research division performance – Achieved modest growth, with strong US market performance offsetting weakness in EMEA region. | |
● | Cost optimisation execution – Realised 70% of £20 million annualised cost savings as part of optimisation plan, in line with expectations, creating headroom for strategic reinvestment in growth initiatives. | |
● | Operational stabilisation – Successfully completed leadership transition and organisational rebalancing, sharpening execution focus and positioning YouGov for sustainable growth and improved efficiency. |
Current trading and outlook
● | We enter FY26 anchored in our ambition to become the universal infrastructure for trusted data sharing, and with clear executional priorities, particularly on panel and product innovation, to guide our transformation to drive sustainable growth. | |
● | Trading for the current financial year has begun in line with management expectations. | |
● | In the financial year ahead, the Group will be increasing investment in areas to improve YouGov’s panel and technology. | |
○ | These strategic investments, focused on technology and data science, will enable YouGov to become a stronger, faster platform company, and drive medium-term growth. | |
● | Looking to the year ahead, the Group expects to deliver modest progress at both revenue and adjusted operating profit level, which includes the impact of the incremental investments outlined above. | |
● | The drivers that underpin our markets continue to present compelling growth opportunities for YouGov and we expect to achieve further progress in the year ahead. |
Stephan Shakespeare, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“YouGov has delivered a stable performance with improved margins through the strength of our teams and our resilient business model.
“Our focus on execution and cost discipline has rebuilt momentum and the strategic steps we’ve implemented demonstrate our commitment to returning to sustainable, profitable growth.
“The Board remains confident that our strategy will achieve our ambition of becoming the world’s leading provider of opinion data. We believe that the strategic investments we are making in panel, technology and data science will help us become a stronger, faster platform company.
“With our third strategic plan and clear executional priorities in place, we are well-positioned to drive long-term value creation for all stakeholders.”