29th Jul 2015 12:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - Online property portal Rightmove PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit for the first half of 2015 rose on the back of a strong increase in revenue and good growth in its average revenue per advertiser in the period, leading it to substantially increase its dividend.
Rightmove has substantially increased its market share among the top four UK property websites, now attracting 82% of total traffic as it continues to add new tools to its websites and now offers 50% more properties on its websites compared to any other portal. Rightmove's main rival is fellow London-listed Zoopla Property Group PLC, as well as OnTheMarket, run by estate agency cooperative Agents Mutual.
The FTSE 250-listed company said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was GBP66.6 million, up from GBP58.8 million a year earlier, as its revenue rose to GBP93.1 million from GBP80.4 million, a 16% rise.
The lift in revenue was driven by growth in spending by customers on additional advertising products and packages, as well as membership fee price increases. Revenue grew across all of Rightmove's business areas but its agency business remained its main contributor.
That is demonstrated by average revenue per advertiser rising by 10% in the period, up to GBP740 per month by the end of the period from GBP671 a year earlier. Agency and new homes customers rose by 1% in the half, up to 19,950, compared to the start of the year, while UK residential property listings on the site rose by 10%.
The increase in agency and new homes customers was driven by the increased properties available on Rightmove's websites. Rightmove said it currently has 50% more properties on its websites than any of its main competitors or other portals.
Rightmove's share of traffic to the top four UK property websites increased to 82% in the half, up from 77% a year earlier, with visits rising 17% and page views up 13%. The company said it offers the only place to search and research "virtually the whole property market in the UK".
"Rightmove is becoming even more popular with the British home moving public. Our share of traffic amongst the top four property websites has increased significantly as more people search and research the only place with over one million properties for sale and to rent in the UK," said Chief Executive Nick McKittrick.
Rightmove said it is continuing to improve its offering to customers by introducing new tools, including ones that allow potential buyers and renters to check local schools and compared house prices in the surrounding area.
"In addition to the hundreds of updates to our platforms we release each month, and hot on the heels of our Valuation range app, we launched the much anticipated Rightmove School Checker which is the focus of our latest advertising campaign," said the company.
In terms of individual business segments, Rightmove's agency business reported average revenue per advertiser rose 10% year-on-year to GBP703 per office per month, and the number of agency offices on its books have risen 2% since the start of 2015 to a record high of 17,122 from 16,843 at the end of December.
The new homes business saw average revenue per advertiser rise GBP72 year-on-year to GBP992 due to increased spending on advertising products.
The overseas advertising business "grew strongly" with audience figures setting new records with over 50 million searches in the period, up 33% on the first half of 2014 and customer numbers up over 15% since the start of the year to 2,378.
The company now has over 200,000 overseas homes advertised for sale, up over a third on a year ago, with particular growth in popular British destinations such as Spain and the US, it said.
Rightmove said it will pay an interim dividend of 16 pence per share, up 23% from the 13 pence per share it paid a year earlier as part of its commitment to a progressive dividend policy.
"Rightmove's trading in July has been in line with the first half of the year, and with the visibility provided by our subscription model the board is confident of delivering its expectations for the year," said the company.
Rightmove shares were up 3.4% to 3,504.00 pence on Wednesday afternoon, among the 10 best performers in the FTSE 250.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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