Experian had announced plans for annualised savings of $80 million (40.75 million pounds) in January and the group raised that to $110 million on Wednesday, with $50 million to be cut in the year to March 2009. One-off restructuring costs will total $140 million, it said.

The news helped lift Experian shares almost 5 percent in early trade. By 0703 GMT (8:03 a.m. British time), they were up 3.6 percent at 413p, compared with a 0.7 percent rise in the FTSE 100 index.

Experian’s headline earnings, total earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), came in at $945 million -- above a median forecast of $938.7 million according to Reuters Estimates, but in line with its own forecast of $935 million to $965 million.

EBIT for continuing activities -- which excludes businesses sold, closed or identified for closure -- and excluding the effects of exchange rate changes, rose 13 percent.

Experian, whose margins have been closely watched by investors as revenue growth slows, said its operating profit margin was 21.8 percent, broadly in line with the previous year.

Experian said shopping comparison website PriceGrabber and its French transaction processing business were "under strategic review" but gave no further details on the expected sales.

The group said it remained on the lookout for "targeted acquisitions", after spending $1.7 billion over the last year on deals including Brazilian credit bureau Serasa, marketing firm Hitwise and debt collections firm Tallyman. It said all of these were trading "at least to plan".

Experian also raised hopes among some analysts of a share buyback, announcing plans to "review additional opportunities for returning surplus cash" as credit ratios return to levels consistent with its targeted investment grade credit rating.

Experian announced a full-year dividend of 18.5 U.S. cents.

(Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; editing by Elizabeth Fullerton and Sue Thomas)