Credit checker Experian's first-quarter revenue rises 10 percent

(Reuters) - Experian Plc, the world's biggest credit data company, reported a 10 percent rise in first-quarter revenue on Friday, driven by growth across its four main global markets and putting it on course to meet its previous annual guidance.

The FTSE-100 company, which is best known for running consumer credit checks for banks, landlords and retailers, said revenue from ongoing activities for the quarter ended June rose 13 percent in North America and 4 percent in UK and Ireland at constant exchange rates.

"Our performance continues to reflect a range of new product introductions across a number of areas, and for the year ahead, at constant currency, our guidance is unchanged," Chief Executive Officer Brian Cassin said in a statement.

Experian, along with two other major credit reporting agencies, Equifax Inc and TransUnion, generate the bulk of the world's credit reports and scores based on consumer borrowing and payment habits, including bankruptcies and court judgements.

Revenue in the quarter rose 9 percent after stripping out the effect of exchange rate movements, Experian said.

Experian's operations in North America and the UK and Ireland have been boosted by the acquisition of credit bureau Clarity Services and financial technology company Runpath.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)