Shares in the polling company YouGov plunged by more than a third on Thursday after the UK research and analytics company warned that sales and profits would be lower than expected this year.
The firm, which is best known for its political polling but generates most of its revenues from providing consumer data and analysis to companies, said sales bookings had been lower than anticipated since it reported half-year figures in late March.
As a result, YouGov now expects revenues this year to be between £324m and £327m, while adjusted operating profit is expected to come in between £41m and £44m. This is below the estimates of analysts, who had been forecasting revenues of £341m and profits of £67m.
The shares were down 38% at 512p, having hit a low of 483p earlier in the day, giving the company a market value of £602m.
The company, which has a panel of more than 27 million people globally who sign up to take its surveys, said demand was slow in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, in particular Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
While demand for customised research has gone up, sales in YouGov’s data products division have remained slow, with fast-turnaround research services continuing to decline, as fewer business clients are commissioning quick projects.
In January, YouGov bought GfK’s Consumer Panel Services business, a leading group in household purchase data in Europe, which helps consumer goods firms and retailers draw up data-backed business strategies. It said the business was doing well, although some of its contribution will shift slightly into next year.
YouGov, which the former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi helped to found, invested £6m in technologies in the first half of the year, up from £4.4m a year earlier, and launched its first artificial intelligence product to meet growing demand in qualitative research.
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It said it would focus on streamlining the business to save money and prioritise investment in key growth areas such as upgrading data products, expanding its AI capabilities and improving its sales operation.
