Rightmove PLC (LSE:RMV) said it expects trading in the second half to mirror the healthy patterns seen in the first six months of the year.
The online platform saw a 63% increase in average revenue per advertiser (ARPA) to £1.1bn, its highest ever.
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Agency ARPA rocketed 107% compared to the same period in 2019, but was offset by a slowdown in the new homes market, where high demand meant developers haven’t spent much in marketing.
Membership numbers are broadly flat since the start of the year at 19,116.
Revenue surged 58% to £149.9mln, with profit before tax up to £114mln from £61mln in 2020. Cash at the end of the period was £67.7mln and the interim dividend was proposed at 3p per share.
“New home developments are selling out before they’re even built. That means, quite rightly, developers are reining in marketing spending – why pay for Rightmove to advertise your houses when they are quite literally selling themselves?" said Sophie Lund-Yates, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. "Lockdowns triggered a housing market boom, and for the UK, which is already a nation obsessed with home ownership, this should have been good news for the likes of Rightmove. Instead, that housing boom has gone supersonic and wiped out Rightmove’s usefulness to the new home market.”
“The flipside of that is Rightmove’s core estate agent customers, who appear to be rebounding strongly. The declines in the number of agencies using Rightmove since before the pandemic is worth attention, but for the time being this is being offset by higher revenue per advertiser, as those branches still using the Rightmove platform can’t really afford to stop. That gives Rightmove enviable revenue visibility.”
Shares rose 1% to 685p on Friday morning.