ZPG revenues rise but profits drop on acquisition costs

Zoopla and PrimeLocation owner ZPG reported a rise in first-half revenues, although profits for the period dropped on the back of acquisition-related costs.

For the six months to the end of March, revenue was up 22% to £117.9m and the group said it saw record traffic of more than 314m visits to its website and apps. However, pre-tax profit fell to £22.5m from £28.1m the year before as the acquisitions of Hometrack and Expert Agent contributed to total exceptional items of £8.8m.

Meanwhile, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were up 11% to £45m.

Chief executive officer Alex Chesterman said: "We have enjoyed a strong first half to the financial year across both divisions and are delighted to report record revenues and adjusted EBITDA for the period. Our audience grew by 5% with a record 314 million visits to our websites and apps and we achieved record levels of brand awareness for both Zoopla and uSwitch.

"We also made good progress on our continued product differentiation with the launch of an innovative new Move Planner tool which provides a one-stop shop for all moving related services and are pleased to announce today a strategic investment in Zero Deposit, a new business seeking to transform the lettings market by providing an alternative to tenant deposits.”

Numis said this was a “solid set of interim results” with revenues and adjusted EBITDA slightly ahead of its estimates of £115.3m and £44.4m, respectively.

At 0922 BST, the shares were up 5% to 375.90p.