Robust trading continues at Rightmove

Property website Rightmove said trading in July continued to be strong and it is confident of achieving company expectations for the year.

Profit after tax increased 36% to £29.3m while underlying operating profit rose 28% to £42.6m for the six months ended 30 June 2012. Revenue jumped 23% to £57.9m.

Average revenue per advertiser rose 20% to £518 per month while the number of advertisers was little changed at 18,299 from 18,276 the year before.

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The increased spend came from price rises and sales of additional advertising products, Rightmove said, with 80% of agents and new homes developers now taking at least one additional advertising product compared to 70% at this time last year.

Underlying operating margin increased to 73.5% from 71.1% the year before while underlying earnings per share climbed 30% to 32.2p.

"Trading was strong in the period with the results also benefiting from customers increasing their spend more sharply than usual at the start of the year and the strength of our data services business which included some one-offs," the group explained.

Rightmove traffic rose 20% on the same period a year ago helped by increased access to its website through apps using devices such as iPhone and iPad.

Its mobile website has seen a rapid growth rate, with the number of searches up 100% year on year. Page impressions on Rightmove were up 23% to 5.9bn.

On a cautionary note, Rightmove said it could be vulnerable to three main areas of uncertainty or risk: the state of the housing market if it leads to a reduction in the number of potential advertisers; competition; and Rightmove's ability to capture a high proportion of any increase in property advertising revenue as the sector recovers.

"Uncertainties surrounding the housing market clearly exist and are likely to be tightly linked to the wider economic environment in the UK."

Despite these conditions, Rightmove said its customers have, in the majority of cases, been able to trade profitably.

Its cash position at the end of the period reduced to £14.6m from £17.9m while the interim dividend was increased by 2p to 9p per ordinary share, in line with its progressive dividend policy.

CJ