Latin America gives credit checker Experian a boost

* Full-year pretax profit falls 4 pct

* Latam revenue up 3 pct on constant currency

* To pay second interim dividend of 27 cents/shr

* Stock top performer on FTSE-100 index (Adds CEO comment, analyst comment, share movement)

By Aashika Jain

May 12 (Reuters) - Signs of growth in Latin America helped push shares in Experian Plc (Other OTC: EXPGF - news) , the world's biggest consumer credit checking agency, higher on Tuesday even though its full-year profits were hit by foreign currency moves.

The information services company, best known for running consumer credit checks for banks, landlords and retailers, said exchange rate movements hit its reported sales by $103 million during the year to March 31.

The company said Latin America showed good progress despite the subdued economy in Brazil, helping it report a 3 percent rise in revenue from continuing operations in the region at unchanged exchange rates.

"There is no doubt the weak economy (in Brazil) has impacted the ability to grow at much higher rates, but not removed our ability to push our business forward in its entirety," Chief Executive Brian Cassin told Reuters.

The Brazilian real depreciated almost 29 percent against the dollar during the year ended March 31 while the euro fell 22 percent.

Experian was the biggest riser in the FTSE-100 index on Tuesday, climbing more than 3 percent and outperforming the index's 1.4 percent fall.

Latin America is Experian's third biggest market by revenue, after Britain and Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) , and the United States.

Stifel analysts said Experian's second-half growth in Brazil could be seen as a positive given the backdrop in the market.

Others also highlighted the better performance in the last quarter, lifting its prospects for the current fiscal year.

"The update in terms of the underlying business was quite encouraging, so I think people are looking through the currency headwind, and are encouraged by the better medium-term prospects," Charles Stanley (LSE: CAY.L - news) analyst Tony Shepard told Reuters.

Overall, the company reported profit before tax of $1 billion, down slightly from $1.05 billion.

Experian, which generates about half of its revenue in North America, also announced a second interim dividend of 27 cents per share, taking its full-year dividend to 39.25 cents.

Experian along with two other major credit reporting agencies, Equifax Inc (NYSE: EFX - news) and TransUnion, generate credit reports and scores based on consumers' borrowing and payment habits, including bankruptcies and court judgments. (Reporting by Aashika Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Louise Heavens, Mark Potter and David Clarke)