Experian hit by US mortgage slump, says FD
FTSE 100 corporate's mortgage comparison website suffers as the number of US providers nosedives
Experian has been hit
hard by a blip in the US sub-prime mortgage market its FD has said.
FD Paul Brooks said that the credit checking corporate had reined in
investment in its LowerMyBills mortgage comparison website because demand among
the self-employed and those with poor credit histories had dried up, forcing
providers to bow out of the market.
‘The supply of sub-prime US mortgages has decreased significantly,’ he told
the Daily Telegraph.
‘We have been cutting back on marketing spend as the demand for leads has
decreased.’
LowerMyBills makes its money from surfers searching for better mortgage
deals, but overall sales fell by 5% in the six months to 31 March 2007 after
an 8% slump in the final quarter, Experian said in its second half trading
update.
Despite the blip, Experian’s overall sales in the US grew by 12%. Recently
HSBC reported an $11bn
(£5.5bn) write-down as it weathered a slump in the same market.
Further reading:
HSBC suffers $11bn impairment blow
Flint takes £800k hit on HSBC shares
High taxes forcing companies abroad