Rightmove H1 profit and revenue rise, confident over full year

FTSE 250 property website Rightmove reported a rise in first-half profit and revenue on Friday.

For the six months to the end of June, underlying operating profit rose 11% to £91m on revenue of £119.5m, also up 11% and driven by continued growth in the company's agency and new homes businesses. Basic earnings per share rose 12% to 76.6p and the interim dividend was lifted to 22p per share from 19p.

Customer numbers increased by more than 200 to hit an all-time high of 20,358 and Rightmove said there are now 1.1m UK residential properties advertised on its site, which is a third more than any other portal. Meanwhile, average revenue per advertiser was up £81, or 10% on the same period a year ago to £911 per month.

Chief executive officer Peter Brooks-Johnson said: "Home hunters visited Rightmove a record 3,000 times a minute in the first half of 2017, turning to us first to search and research on the only place you can see almost the entire UK residential property market.

"Our aim has always been to help our agents and developers succeed by delivering great value marketing and building strong relationships to support their ambitions. This approach continues to serve us well as we have grown our customer base to an all-time high demonstrating that Rightmove is the site of choice, not only for Britain's home movers, but also its property professionals. With consumers and customers becoming increasingly digital our clear market leadership coupled with the value of our products and data positions us well for the future."

The group said trading in July has been in line with the strong monthly revenue achieved in the first half of the year, adding that it is confident of delivering its expectations for the current year.