Rightmove posts jump in FY profits, upbeat on outlook

In the year to the end of December 2021, pre-tax profit rose to £225.6m from £134.8m the year before, with revenue up 48% at £304.9m.

Operating profit grew 67% to £226.1m and the company declared a final dividend of 4.8p a share, up from 4.5p in 2020 and taking the total dividend for 2021 to 7.8p.

Rightmove said average revenue per advertiser rose 53% from 2020 to £1,189, reflecting the discounts given to customers during the second and third quarters of 2020. Meanwhile, housing transactions increased 41% on 2020 and were up 26% compared to 2019, ending the year at 1.44m.

Chair Andrew Fisher said: "2021 has been the busiest year in Rightmove's history, with record numbers of home hunters spending over 18 billion minutes on our platforms. The UK property market has seen extraordinary activity this year with over 1.4m transactions fuelling an increase of 4.6% in average house prices."

The company struck an upbeat note on the outlook, saying that as the market normalises, it expects the number of transactions to return to pre-pandemic levels.

"We remain alert to the macro environment, but Rightmove is not materially impacted by the property market cycle other than in the most extreme circumstances and we believe the UK online property advertising market will continue to grow," it said.

"The strength of our proposition, coupled with the innovation delivered during the past two years and the momentum generated during in 2021, underpins the board’s confidence in Rightmove's outlook for 2022 and beyond."