Here’s the first post of Roulette here on Slanted Column! I’ll randomly pick a company on the London Stock Exchange and see what we can learn from looking blindly at the financial statements.
The randomizer returned Y, and guess what? Only one option.
So YouGov it is!
Naturally, we’ll keep it nice and concise.
1-Minute Company Overview
Basically, the company is focused on online market research with an international customer base consisting of governments, corporate firms, and other institutions. Products offered include surveying, polling, brand tracking, and ad targeting.
Not hard to see the value of YouGov given the importance of information technology in our modern society.
Financials
Now let’s take a look at some numbers. All data is taken from the official FY23 Full-Year Results.
Other than the fact that the newest year has seen growth from the previous reporting period, one thing that jumped out is from the Balance Sheet.
| Current Assets | 2023 (£m) | 2022 (£m) |
| Cash and Cash Equivalents | 107.2 | 37.4 |
Proceeding downwards, we can spy the reason from the Cash Flow Statement.
| Various Sections of CFS | 2023 (£m) | 2022 (£m) |
| Acquisition of subsidiaries (net of cash acquired) | – | (25.4) |
| Proceeds from the issue of share capital | 49.8 | – |
This company has had tons of acquisitions over these past two years.
Share issuances typically affect the EPS, so I was surprised to see there was no dip. I scrolled down to check out the section on Earnings Per Share.
So the 2023 columns in all the financial reports look pretty fantastic, but it’s not going to stay that way for long. YouGov is in investing mode, and its financials will eventually reflect that.