LONDON, July 2, 2026, 14:06 BST
- Experian stock rose 0.37% to 2,588.51p in late London trade.
- The company picked up 474,171 shares on July 1. It’s set to admit 65,000 new shares on July 3.
- The company put out two buyback notices in 48 hours for 946,171 shares, which is about 14.6 times what it expected to admit under the employee plan.
- The July 16 first-quarter trading update is the next test.
Experian PLC (LON:EXPN) ticked up Thursday. The main read for investors, though, was on the share count. The credit data company is buying back shares quickly, outpacing a minor block admission for staff awards ahead of its Q1 update coming this month.
Shares traded at 2,588.51 pence, up 0.37%, as of 13:50:51 BST, using delayed Morningstar feed. The day’s range was 2,511p to 2,591p. Market cap stood at about £22.92 billion. Volume at that time reached 1.12 million shares. The London Stock Exchange was open; usual LSE hours are 0800-1630 BST.
| Experian market data | Latest |
|---|---|
| Share price | 2,588.51p |
| Day change | up 0.37% |
| Day range | 2,511p to 2,591p |
| Volume | 1.12 million shares |
| Market cap | £22.92 billion |
| 52-week range | 2,203p to 4,101p |
The shares trailed the broader London blue-chips. FTSE 100 climbed 0.5% to 10,532.93 at 1153 GMT, with healthcare and beverage names leading. FTSE 250 dipped 0.2%, Reuters said.
Experian said Thursday it snapped up 474,171 ordinary shares on July 1, buying through Goldman Sachs International at an average 2,537.2294p per share. The company plans to cancel the shares.
The company said the day before it picked up 472,000 shares on June 30 at a weighted average price of 2,546.8208p, again for cancellation. In total, both buys ran to about £24.1 million and involved 946,171 shares.
| Share-count item | Shares | Price/value detail | Investor read-through |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 1 buyback | 474,171 | Avg price 2,537.2294p | Will be cancelled |
| June 30 buyback | 472,000 | Avg price 2,546.8208p | Will be cancelled |
| July 3 block admission | 65,000 | £1.7 mln at 2,588.51p | Staff payout |
| Two-day buybacks vs admission | 14.6x | £24.1 mln vs £1.7 mln | Share count falls |
Buybacks are key here because they set the context for the July 1 admission notice. Experian moved to admit 65,000 ordinary shares on July 3, these being set aside through a block admission to cover employee share-plan awards. That amount is just 0.0069% of the 947.84 million ordinary shares reported as of June 30, and amounts to 6.9% of the total shares Experian bought back between June 30 and July 1.
Experian kept its bigger buyback on the table. The company said June 30 that its $1 billion repurchase plan will kick in after the last programme wraps up, set to end by June 30, 2027. It can buy up to 63.29 million shares, or roughly 6.7% of its outstanding ordinary shares as of June 30.
The share count will stay in focus as analysts still argue over growth. On Experian’s analyst-consensus page, average forecasts for the year to March 2027 are $9.21 billion in revenue, 7.2% organic revenue growth, $2.68 billion EBIT and 202.2 cents benchmark EPS.
| FY27 company-compiled analyst estimates | Average | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $9.21 bln | $9.06 bln-$9.31 bln |
| Organic revenue growth | 7.2% | 6.6%-7.8% |
| EBIT | $2.68 bln | $2.64 bln-$2.70 bln |
| Benchmark EPS | 202.2 cents | 193.1-205.5 cents |
Experian in May predicted FY27 total revenue would rise 8%-11%, with organic revenue up 6%-8% and margins growing at the top of its medium-term goals. For FY26, revenue from ongoing activities rose 13% at actual rates to $8.43 billion and organic revenue climbed 8%. Benchmark EBIT from ongoing activities rose 15% to $2.41 billion.
CEO Brian Cassin said in May that for 2027, “We don’t see any material improvements; we don’t see any material deterioration either at the same time.” Cassin also noted client caution, especially for credit cards, according to Reuters. Reuters
JPMorgan’s Jane Sparrow told Reuters that Experian got ahead in laying out how AI can help its business, and she expects more of that as leaders work to ease “AI-related nervousness.” Reuters
Experian’s next big date is coming up. The company will post its first-quarter trading update on July 16. Its annual general meeting takes place July 22, with the second interim dividend due to be paid July 24.
