Acquisitions/transactions
PRIMIS Marketing Group, Atlanta, has acquired MarketModels, Inc., a Wickford, R.I.-based data analysis firm.
Interviewing Service of America, Van Nuys, Calif., has acquired Opinion One’s proprietary Computer Aided Visual Interviewing data collection method and added it to its list of services.
Synovate has acquired Asia-based youth research agency The Filter Group. Filter was started in 2000 by Ian Stewart and Stuart Wason. The company will become part of the global specialist unit called Synovate YC. Stewart becomes the head of Synovate YC in Asia, based in Bangkok. Wason has decided to pursue new interests and will remain in Singapore.
Paris-based Ipsos has entered into an agreement to acquire U.K. research firm MORI Group Limited. MORI had 2004 revenue of EUR 64.5 million with operating profit EUR 8.2 million. Between 2000 and 2004, MORI’s compound annual revenue growth was 13.2 percent. MORI, which has approximately 460 employees, is headquartered in London, and has offices in Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin. Ipsos UK and MORI will be merged to form Ipsos MORI. Richard Silman, Ipsos UK CEO, will lead Ipsos MORI as executive chairman. He will also be responsible for the media research business. Brian Gosschalk will be chief executive of Ipsos MORI, responsible for all client areas of the business, except media and operations. Sir Robert Worcester, founder of MORI, will take on a new role as chairman of the advisory board of Ipsos Public Affairs worldwide. Sir Andrew Likierman, MORI’s chairman, will continue as a consultant.
Port Washington, N.Y., research firm The NPD Group has acquired DisplaySearch, an Austin, Texas, provider of market research on the flat-panel display industry. DisplaySearch will continue to operate independently as an NPD Group company.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Oslo-based Future Information Research Management has signed an agreement to provide its Confirmit survey and report platform to London research firm Research Now, which plans to utilize and integrate the Confirmit platform across its online fieldwork services and panels.
Marten Board International, a full-service market research and consulting company in Serbia, has joined the Harris Interactive Global Network of independent market research companies.
Association/organization news
The Council for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) and the Marketing Research Association (MRA) announced a formal research alliance intended to enhance their synergies and better secure the protection of the research profession in the U.S. As part of this alliance, the two organizations will combine support services and share structures while maintaining their individual leaderships.
Both organizations see their alliance as another step toward unifying the marketing research profession, as evidenced in last year’s merger of MRA and the Interactive Marketing Research Organization (IMRO). “This alliance is a win-win for CMOR and the research industry,” says Terri Hansee, chair of CMOR. “By gaining the support of a larger organization we strengthen our resources while maintaining our independence, which is important to the work we do.”
The American Marketing Association has given its 2005 Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Research Award to Howard R. Moskowitz. The award was presented to Moskowitz for his notable contributions and dedication to the ongoing advancement of marketing research practice. Moskowitz, president and CEO of Moskowitz Jacobs Inc., a White Plains, N.Y., research firm, has written and edited 16 books and over 300 articles, and serves on the editorial board of many journals. The Parlin Award was established in 1945 as a memorial to Charles Coolidge Parlin, who is recognized as a founder of marketing research.
The Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) has announced its 2005-2006 North America board of directors. The MSPA North America Board consists of 12 directors elected by MSPA North America members. The directors serve three-year terms. The board also includes the president of MSPA Europe. The new officers for 2005-2006 are: president - David Rich, president of ICC/Decision Services, Wayne, N.J.; vice president - Tom Mills, co-owner of Howard Services Inc., and managing partner of Service Sleuth, the Mystery Shopping division of Howard Services, Boston; treasurer - Christopher Warzynski, vice president of Beyond Hello, Madison, Wis.; secretary - Reb Henry, president of Feedback Plus, Dallas. Additionally, two new directors joined the MSPA board: Susan Seiler, president of SG Marketing Group, Arnold, Calif., and Gary Topiol, COO of GfK NOP Mystery Shopping, New York.
Awards/rankings
Shugoll Research, Bethesda, Md., was named one of the Ten Best Companies Supporting the Arts in America by the Business Committee for the Arts and Forbes. Shugoll Research is the creator and sponsor of ArtSpeak!, a nine-year-old program designed to excite students about the arts and create an interest in attending live performances. ArtSpeak! brings artists into schools where they talk about their career, answer questions, sign autographs and perform.
U.K. research software firm Pulse Train has won the 2005 MRS/ASC Joint Award for Technology Effectiveness. The award, given by the Market Research Society and the Association for Survey Computing, is for outstanding innovation in the application of software or technology to market, opinion and social research. Pulse Train won for its mixed- and multi-mode interviewing system, Bellview Fusion. Its entry was based on Bellview Fusion’s implementation at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, where it is being used as a component in the U.S. National Immunization Survey, a study that provides details of vaccination coverage among pre-school children across 50 U.S. states and 28 large urban areas.
Cultural Access Group, a Los Angeles research firm, and Interviewing Service of America, Van Nuys, Calif., have been awarded the first-ever 3AF (Asian American Advertising Foundation) Research Partner of the Year for their work on the Asian American Market Report. Covering six of the major Asian nationalities, as well as African-Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, the Asian American Market Report provides demographic, cultural, behavioral and media insights.
New accounts/projects
Media companies Global News and CanWest News Service have selected Toronto research firm Ipsos Reid as their pollster of record.
New companies/new divisions/ relocations/expansions
The MVL Group, a Jupiter, Fla., research firm, has created a new company, Carbonview Research Inc., which will focus on online research.
Consumer Pulse has moved its Charlotte data collection facility to Eastridge Mall, 246 N. New Hope Rd., #118, Gastonia, N.C., 28054. Phone 704-854-8320. E-mail charlotte@consumerpulse.com. The facility is managed by Daniel Bashaw.
Mary Jo Martin, formerly vice president of research and database marketing at The Quest Business Agency in Houston, has formed Knowledge-Based Marketing, LLC, a Houston-based firm providing market research and consulting services. She can be reached at maryjom@kbasedmkt.com or at 713-344-0152.
The Ipsos Group has opened a new office in the Seattle area at 10900 N.E. 8th St., in Bellevue, Wash.
Company earnings reports
In results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2005, Arbitron Inc., New York, reported revenue of $85.6 million, an increase of 4.5 percent over revenue of $82.0 million during the third quarter of 2004. A planned increase in expenses for the Houston Portable People Meter market demonstration and for the rollout of the Project Apollo pilot contributed to an increase in costs and expenses for the third quarter of 11.8 percent, from $47.1 million in 2004 to $52.7 million in 2005. Earnings before interest and income tax expense (EBIT) for the quarter were $33.1 million, a decrease of 1.8 percent compared to EBIT of $33.7 million during the third quarter last year.
Income tax expense for the third quarter 2005 increased by $4.1 million over the same period last year due in part to a third-quarter 2004 reversal of certain reserves for tax contingencies and a third-quarter 2004 reduction in the valuation allowance on certain deferred tax assets which together amounted to a benefit of $4.2 million in the third quarter of 2004.
Net income for the third quarter decreased by 13.7 percent from $24.2 million in 2004 to $20.9 million in 2005. Net income per share for the third quarter 2005 decreased to $0.66 (diluted), compared with $0.77 (diluted) during the comparable period last year.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, revenue was $234.6 million, an increase of 4.9 percent over the $223.6 million in the same period last year. EBIT was $84.4 million, compared to $81.5 million in 2004. Net income for the nine months was $56.1 million or $1.77 per share (diluted), compared with $50.9 million or $1.62 per share (diluted) during the comparable period last year.
Oslo-based Future Information Research Management (FIRM) reported revenue increased in the third quarter 2005 by 35 percent compared to the same quarter in the previous year. FIRM reported revenue of $3.69 million in Q3 2005 compared to $2.73 million in Q3 2004. The company’s EBITDA result was $93,000 for the quarter, compared to $85,000 in Q3 2004. Pre-tax profit was $31,000 in Q3 2005, compared to $182,000 in the same quarter last year. Accumulated revenues for the first nine months of 2005 were $11.0 million, a growth of 30 percent compared to same period in 2004, and EBITDA year-to-date was $84,000 as of September 30, 2005.
IMS Health, Fairfield, Conn., announced third-quarter 2005 revenues of $432.8 million, up 13 percent (12 percent constant dollar), compared with revenues of $384.2 million for the third quarter of 2004. Third-quarter diluted earnings per share on an SEC-reported basis were $0.30, up 7 percent, compared with $0.28 in the prior year. Third-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share were $0.34, compared with $0.30 per share in the same period of 2004, an increase of 13 percent. Net income on an SEC-reported basis was $71.1 million, up 8 percent compared with net income of $65.6 million in the year-earlier quarter. On an adjusted basis, net income for the third quarter of 2005 was $80.6 million, up 14 percent, compared with net income of $70.7 million in the prior year.
Operating income in the third quarter was $102.2 million on an SEC-reported basis and $110.7 million on an adjusted basis, compared with operating income of $102.9 million on both an SEC-reported and adjusted basis in the year-earlier period. Adjusted operating income excludes a charge of $8.5 million for costs associated with the proposed merger of IMS and VNU N.V. Operating income was down 1 percent on an SEC-reported basis and rose 8 percent on an adjusted basis (7 percent constant dollar).
Adjusted results for the third quarter of 2005 exclude the merger-related costs mentioned above, certain net pre-tax income items totaling $0.7 million, and certain net tax provisions of $1.6 million. Adjusted results for the 2004 third quarter exclude certain net pre-tax expense items totaling approximately $1.7 million, as well as certain net tax provisions of approximately $3.3 million.
For the first nine months of 2005, revenues were $1,277.1 million, up 13 percent (11 percent constant dollar) over the prior year period. Diluted earnings per share on an SEC-reported basis for the 2005 first nine months was $0.84, compared with $0.89 in the year-earlier period, down 6 percent, primarily due to the tax recorded in the first nine months of 2005 on cash IMS is repatriating under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA). Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the first nine months of this year were $0.98, a 17 percent increase over the $0.84 reported in the prior-year period. On an SEC-reported basis, net income for the first nine months of this year was $194.7 million, compared with $211.8 million for the year-ago period, an 8 percent decrease. On an adjusted basis, net income for the 2005 first nine months was $226.5 million, up 12 percent, compared with adjusted net income of $201.6 million for the comparable period last year.
Operating income for the first nine months of 2005 was $302.4 million on an SEC-reported basis and $318.3 million on an adjusted basis, compared with $301.6 million on both an SEC-reported and adjusted basis in the year-earlier period.
Adjusted operating income for the 2005 first nine months excludes a charge of $15.9 million for costs associated with the proposed IMS and VNU merger. Operating income growth in the 2005 first nine months was flat on an SEC-reported basis and up 6 percent on an adjusted basis (4 percent constant dollar) from the same period last year.
Adjusted results for the first nine months of 2005 exclude the merger-related costs mentioned above and certain net pre-tax income items totaling approximately $15.1 million, as well as certain net tax provisions of approximately $31.1 million, primarily related to the $39.5 million tax expense recorded in the first nine months of 2005 on cash repatriated under the AJCA. Adjusted results for the first nine months of 2004 exclude certain net pre-tax income items of approximately $9.6 million and certain net tax benefits of approximately $0.7 million.
Opinion Research Corporation, Princeton, N.J., announced third-quarter revenues of $48.7 million versus $48.9 million in the prior year’s third quarter. Social research revenues were $34.1 million versus $32.7 million in last year’s third quarter. Market research revenues totaled $12.9 million versus $13.0 million in the prior year’s third quarter. Teleservices revenues were $1.8 million versus $3.2 million in last year’s third quarter.
The company reported a net loss for the quarter of ($4.65 million). This includes an impairment provision for the remaining goodwill in the teleservices segment, a previously announced write-off of expenses incurred in a postponed equity offering and a tax accrual adjustment due to a change in the estimated annual tax rate, which together reduced net income by approximately $5 million. Net loss per diluted common share was ($2.58). The above items and the impact from the previously announced repurchase of the LLR interests reduced earnings per diluted common share by $2.64. Net income and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2004 were $1.0 million and $0.15 respectively.
For the first nine months of 2005, revenues were $149.4 million compared to $146.3 million in the first nine months of 2004. The company reported a net loss for the nine months of ($3.2 million). This includes the goodwill impairment provision, a first quarter refinancing charge and the write-off of the equity offering expenses which together reduced net income by approximately $5.3 million. Net loss per diluted common share was ($2.12). The above items and the impact from the repurchase of the LLR interests reduced earnings per diluted common share by $2.45. Net income and diluted earnings per share for the first nine months of 2004 were $1.7 million and $0.26 respectively. Last year’s nine months was impacted by a refinancing charge that reduced net income by $1.5 million and diluted earnings per share by $0.24.