Experian's quarterly revenue rises

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Jan 18 (Reuters) - Experian Plc (Other OTC: EXPGF - news) , the world's biggest credit data company, on Thursday reported a 5 percent rise in third-quarter organic revenue from ongoing activities at constant exchange rates, and said it expects full-year organic revenue growth in the mid-single digits.

The FTSE-100 company, best known for running consumer credit checks for banks, landlords and retailers, said organic revenue from ongoing activities for the quarter ended Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) . 31 rose 5 percent in North America and was unchanged in UK and Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) at constant exchange rates.

The company said it expects its benchmark tax rate for the year ending March. 31 to be unchanged from it previous guidance of between 26-27 percent, after the latest U.S. tax cut.

Growth in Experian's business-to-business operations in the UK and Ireland was offset by declines in consumer services.

However, in the U.S., growth was driven by its business-to-business operations, as it signed several major financial institutions to the service during the quarter.

Experian's business-to-business activities include credit services, decision analytics and marketing services.

North America accounts for 57 percent of Experian's revenue.

Latin America, Experian's third-biggest market by revenue, saw revenue growth of 7 percent.

Experian, along with two other major credit reporting agencies, Equifax Inc (NYSE: EFX - news) and TransUnion (Berlin: 13331323.BE - news) , generate credit reports and scores based on consumers' borrowing and payment habits, including bankruptcies and court judgements.

Experian reported a jump in first-half profit as it reported some initial gains from a data breach at Equifax and broader growth across its operations. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)