GfK Group on course for growth 

The market research company Gfk has published its business figures for the second quarter of 2006. In the first six months, sales increased by 54.6 percent year-on-year to 523.4 million euros. The operating result rose by 76.3 percent to 63.8 million euros. The margin, i.e. the ratio of adjusted operating income to sales, amounted to 11.9% and was therefore significantly higher than in the previous year (10.5%). Gfk has now positioned itself as the fourth-largest market research company in the world. The reasons for the positive result are the good business performance of all five business divisions and the good progress made in integrating the former NOP World companies. In addition, significant progress has been made in resolving the operational problems of 2005, such as the restructuring of GfK Martin Hamblin and the retail panel in Switzerland. With regard to the annual forecast, the market researcher expects consolidated sales of at least EUR 1.1 billion for 2006, which corresponds to an increase of 18%.