Shares in Experian fell in early trade on news that the financial information company would retain PriceGrabber.

Experian said on Wednesday that a disposal of the business, which was put under review in February, was "not in the best interests of shareholders" in the current funding environment.

It was updating on trade for the first half and reported revenues up by 13 per cent.

Experian considered a divestment of PriceGrabber and talked to a number of parties. It would continue to strengthen the comparison site's market position by driving volumes and product innovation.

PriceGrabber was bought by GUS more than three years ago for $485m in a bid to beef up its interactive business. It added acquisitions such as LowerMyBills.com and ClassesUSA.com before it was folded into Experian as part of the demerger from GUS in 2006.

Analysts said there may be disappointment that market conditions do not allow for a disposal of PriceGrabber now. Kevin Lapwood analyst with Seymour Pierce said this would be seen as marginally negative.

But organic sales growth, which showed an improved trend in the second quarter, was better than expected. Overall organic revenue growth was up 5 per cent in the second quarter and by 1 per cent in the first. Organic revenues for the first half grew by 3 per cent.

Shares fell by 6.8 per cent to 307 ½p in early trade.

Experian agreed to sell its French transaction processing business to Advent International and Doc@Post, a subsidiary of La Poste, the French postal service. The agreed cash consideration is €203m (£158.2m) on a debt and cash-free basis. The transaction is expected to complete before the end of 2008, subject to clearance from the French competition authorities.

After taxes and other transaction costs, net proceeds will be about €150m which will be used to repay bank borrowings.

Group growth was adversely affected by further falls in the core credit services business in the US which was down by 5 per cent and in the UK which was down by 4 per cent as tougher credit conditions continued to bite.

Two fifths of its business comes from US and UK financial services companies, which use its credit checking systems when deciding whether to lend to customers.

But trade was boosted by the interactive division, which provides credit information and price comparison websites to consumers and by growth in its decision analytics division which provides support software to banks. Organic revenues in these divisions grew by 9 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.

In North America, revenues grew by 2 per cent and in the UK and Ireland by 1 per cent.. Growth rates were stronger in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific where revenues grew by 33 per cent while in Latin America revenues grew 157 per cent.

Experian said: "This is a dynamic time for the global economy.Our markets are in the midst of significant change, which we expect to last for some time. This new environment will require our clients to strengthen risk management and optimise collections activities across their organisations."