Experian, the world's biggest credit check provider, told investors today not to expect a fast recovery in Britain and America's financial services sectors, but said business in emerging markets had pushed up its turnover in the first quarter.

Experian reiterated plans to cut between 800 and 900 jobs from its global workforce, as announced in January, but gave no further details. This is part of a $110 million (£55 million) cost-cutting programme.

The company also declined to offer an update on the strategic review of Pricegrabber, its American price comparison website, or its French transaction processing businesses, although the company said that the lack of information did not mean that there were difficulties in offloading the operations.

In May, Experian reported a 39 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to $549 million for the year to March 31. Experian usually spends between $600 million and $700 million on acquisitions but said that there were currently fewer opportunities than usual so would consider a share buyback instead.

Unveiling its trading update for the three months to June 30, Experian said that revenue increased 21 per cent on the back of a series of acquisitions, while organic revenue was 1 per cent higher. This was a better than expected organic result, after the company said in May that turnover would be flat or slightly down because of the tough trading environment.

The shares were the sole riser among London's leading blue-chips in early trading, adding 3.39 per cent to 373.5p.

Mr Robert said: "Looking ahead, while we don't plan on the basis of any short-term recovery in the US and UK financial services markets, we expect strength in new geographies and across many business lines to support group revenue growth." The business did not give profit figures in the update.

Experian's main business of providing consumer credit information to financial institutions has been hit as banks cut back on lending. Across the business, organic revenue from the provision of credit services was down in the first quarter.

In the UK and Ireland, the company reported a 5 per cent rise in revenue, with most of the growth coming from acquisitions made last year, including Tallyman, a debt collection software manufacturer. Organic revenue from the provision of credit services fell by 2 per cent.

In the US, revenue was up by 1 per cent, entirely due to the acquisition in June last year of Hitwise, an online market intelligence company. In Latin America, revenue rocketed by more than 4,000 per cent, from $3 million to $128 million, mainly due to the contribution of Serasa, a Brazilian credit check company that Experian bought last June. Organic revenue rose by 54 per cent but from a low base, as the region's growing middle class made increasing use of consumer debt products.

The company will hold its annual meeting in Dublin on July 16, with a first-half trading update on October 15.

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