8th May 2013 07:00
RIGHTMOVE PLC - Interim Management StatementRIGHTMOVE PLC - Interim Management Statement
PR Newswire
London, May 7
Rightmove plc ("Rightmove"), the UK's number one property website, todaypublishes its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1st January 2013to 8th May 2013. Financial and operating information relates to the period 1stJanuary 2013 to 30th April 2013 unless otherwise stated.
Current trading
The healthy start to 2013 that we reported at our Full Year results in Marchhas continued through the period:
* Rightmove traffic is setting new records and is up over 20% on the same period in 2012 * The number of Rightmove enquiries is also at record levels with an 80% increase in April year on year * Average Revenue per Advertiser* (ARPA) has shown healthy growth as a result of sales of additional advertising products and price increases. This means we have made good progress in achieving an increase in ARPA in the region of £70 for 2013 on the 2012 average of £529 per month * Over 80% of agents and new homes developers are now taking at least one additional product and 35% of their spend in April was on additional advertising products * The overall number of advertisers at the end of April was 18,526, up 1% on December 2012.Activity on Rightmove during the first four months is up over 20% on a yearago. April was our busiest month ever with 1.25 billion pages viewed. Theincreased traffic coupled with the roll-out of local geographic telephonenumbers led to a record number of enquiries for our customers, up 80% on April2012.
Mobile traffic on the latest releases of our Rightmove apps (iPhone, iPad andAndroid apps) and optimised mobile website has continued its rapid rate ofgrowth. The latest version of our iPhone/iPad app, released at the start of theyear, has already been downloaded nearly 3 million times.
We ran our TV advertising campaign again in January and February and in Aprilwe launched our new TV campaign featuring Blondie's `Dreaming'.
Paid site traffic continues to be negligible showing the ongoing strength ofRightmove's brand recognition and further success in optimising our organicsearch performance.
Agency
Agency ARPA has continued to grow compared to the same period in 2012 as aresult of further adoption of additional advertising products, including thenew microsite product, and price increases. Rightmove agency membership at theend of April stood at 15,495, an increase of 251 branches since the start ofthe year.
New homes
New homes ARPA has increased substantially as a result of sales of additionaladvertising products, healthy demand for email campaigns and price increases.The number of developments at the end of April stood at 2,315, a decrease of121 developments since the start of the year.
Other businesses
Our data services business and overseas homes advertising business, both modestcontributors in terms of overall revenue, continue to trade healthily. Thenumber of overseas customers at the end of April stood at 716, an increase of126 customers since the start of the year.
Costs
Operating costs remain low and we are on target for between £35m to £36m ofoperating cost as communicated at the Full Year Results in March.
Return of capital and financial position
As previously announced, the final dividend for 2013 of 14p per share will bepaid on 7th June 2013 to members on the register on 10th May 2013, subject toapproval at today's AGM. To date, the Company has acquired and cancelled750,000 shares in 2013 at a cost of £13.1m. As at 30 April 2013 Rightmove had £18.4m of cash.
OutlookWith healthy growth in average spend per advertiser so far this year andassuming there is no significant deterioration in the UK housing market, theBoard remains confident of meeting its expectations.
Contact:
For Nick McKittrick (CEO) or Robyn Perriss (FD) please contact Rightmove plcPress Office on 07976 717569.
* Agency offices and new homes developments
Related Shares:
Rightmove