Rightmove revenue growth beating expectations

Property portal Rightmove said in an update on Monday that since its interim results in July, its overall revenue growth had surpassed consensus expectations, primarily driven by higher-than-anticipated average revenue per advertiser (ARPA).

The FTSE 100 company said both estate agent subscriptions and new home development listings remained stable.

Its share of consumer time held steady at around 85%, underscoring its strong brand, consumer position, and the established network effect of its business model.

Rightmove said it now anticipated ARPA growth for the full year to reach between £112 and £116, exceeding the previous guidance of £103 to £105.

New home developers propelled that growth, which expanded their use of native search adverts and advanced development listing products.

Estate agents also continued to bolster their pipelines through various product offerings, including branding, lead generation, and property products.

In addition, Rightmove said its commercial real estate business unit remained on track to meet full-year revenue targets, demonstrating consistent growth.

The firm made notable progress with its mortgage business, recently launching its first broker product, enabling consumers to access broker advice when applying for a mortgage through the Rightmove platform.

Looking ahead, Rightmove maintains confidence in its full-year outlook for 2023, expecting ARPA growth to range from £112 to £116, revenue growth in the range of 8% to 10%, Underlying Operating Profit growth of 7% to 8%, and an underlying margin of approximately 73%.

“The momentum that we reported in July has continued through the third quarter and beyond,” said chief executive officer Johan Svanstrom.

“The strength of our performance against an uncertain market backdrop demonstrates the strength of the UK consumer affinity to our platform, the value of the established network effect of our business model, the depth and richness of our consumer data, and the value that our customers place in our products to build their businesses.

“It also illustrates the resilience of our business model in all phases of the property market cycle.”

“We continue to look to the future with confidence and remain focused on the delivery of our strategic plans, both in our core business and in strategic growth areas.”

At 0810 GMT, shares in Rightmove were up 4.71% at 533.2p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.