27th Feb 2026 10:20
(Alliance News) - Rightmove PLC on Friday announced a total dividend for 2025 that was higher than expected, alongside a share buyback programme as it highlighted it entered 2026 "with confidence."
The Milton Keynes, England-based online property portal said pretax profit climbed 12% to GBP290.0 million in 2025 from GBP258.4 million in 2024.
Operating profit grew 12% to GBP287.9 million from GBP256.3 million, but a tad below company-compiled consensus of GBP288.3 million, which had a range between GBP281.5 million and GBP291.9 million.
Revenue rose 9.0% to GBP425.1 million in 2025 from GBP389.9 million in 2024, below the consensus of GBP425.6 million which had a range of GBP423.7 million to GBP429.1 million.
The company noted that in the rental market, tenant demand still outweighed supply, but the number of applicants per available let came down to 10 in 2025 from 14 in 2024.
It added: "Together with reducing rent fee growth the market is normalising to more balanced, historically typical levels. New Homes developers saw signs of improving sales ratios, whilst new development openings remain subdued. The built-to-rent market continued to be one of the fastest growing segments in UK property, with further future penetration expected."
Basic earnings per share were up 15% at 28.1 pence in 2025 from 24.4p in 2024, and in line with the consensus, which had a range of 27.30p to 28.50p.
Administrative costs increased 2.8% to GBP137.3 million from GBP133.6 million.
Rightmove said the final dividend per share for 2025 is 6.59p, up 8.0% from 6.10p in 2024. This brings the total payout for 2025 to 10.64p, up 8.6% from 9.8p in 2024, and beating the Financial Times-cited consensus of 10.53p.
Further, the company announced a GBP90 million share buyback programme, starting on Monday, and due to complete by the end of July.
Rightmove said: "The strength of our business model, our clear strategy, and our innovation pace underpin the board's confidence in Rightmove's outlook for 2026 and beyond."
Chief Executive Officer Johan Svanstrom said: "Building on several years of technology leadership and launching of AI powered solutions, we most recently complemented our broad product range with a conversational search tool, developed in collaboration with Google Cloud. Looking ahead, we will introduce a Rightmove app-in-GPT on OpenAI in the near future."
He added: "We have entered 2026 with confidence in our performance, leading with valued and specialised services that scale and deliver strong returns. We continue to execute our strategy to develop the leading digital ecosystem for the entire home-moving experience, powered by exceptional data and network effects."
The company expects underlying basic earnings per share growth of at least 5% for 2026, compared with 11% growth to 29.1p in 2025 from 26.2p in 2024.
Rightmove alongside Luton-based airline operator easyJet PLC next month will be relegated from the FTSE 100 to the FTSE 250. They will be replaced by current FTSE 250 constituents IG Group Holdings PLC, a London-based provider of online trading platforms, and Tritax Big Box REIT PLC, a real estate investment trust focused on "big box" logistics properties.
Rightmove shares rose 5.6% to 452.92 pence each on Friday morning in London, but are still down 30% from a year ago, and 20% lower than five years ago.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
RightmoveeasyJetIGTritax Big Box