Crisis for consumers
22/05/2008
The crisis in the financial markets is turning into a crisis for consumers as mortgage lending and other loans dry up, credit checking giant Experian warned.
Chief executive Don Robert said that what started as a major headache for investment banks and other financial services firms on Wall Street and in the City is now spreading to the real economy and hitting consumers.
Experian, which has information on 40m consumers in the UK and 220m in the US, has felt the pain because banks and other lenders are calling for fewer credit checks as they issue fewer loans.
The warning came as Experian reported profits of $945m (£482m) for the year to the end of March on revenues up from $3.49bn to $4.13bn, boosted by business across Asia and in eastern Europe.
