Revenue was up 10% to £179.5 million in the six months to the end of June
Online real estate company Rightmove clocked up its highest first-half revenue since 2018, it revealed on Friday, despite a troubled mortgage market putting pressure on house prices.
The business said revenue was up 10% to £179.5 million in the six months to the end of June. Pre-tax profit rose 7.5% to £130 million.
“The strength and resilience of Rightmove’s business has remained apparent throughout the first half of 2023,” the firm said in a trading update.
“Agents and developers have continued to use our products to win new mandates and to drive their businesses forward, and home-movers have continued to trust our sites to allow them to see the whole of the property market, helping them to make informed decisions.
“This has allowed us to deliver strong results, despite the backdrop of higher mortgage rates and the increased cost of living.”
The Bank of England has hiked interest rates 13 times since the end of 2021 as it tries to get runaway inflation under control.
It has pushed the Bank’s base rate from 0.1% to 5% in that period, making it much more expensive for people to borrow money to buy a house.
Yet Rightmove said another 102 estate agents and other businesses had signed up to become Rightmove members – a 1% increase.
Home hunters spent 1.4 billion minutes on the site each month, a fall from 1.5 billion in 2022, which Rightmove blamed on a slower property market.
But it is still 27% higher than before the pandemic.
Chief executive Johan Svanstrom said: “These results clearly illustrate that Rightmove continues to be the property portal that consumers turn to first and engage with the most, and that our customers continue to use our innovative products and services to support their businesses in both slower and faster housing markets.
“Our performance against the backdrop of a challenging interest rate environment demonstrates yet again that Rightmove isn’t materially impacted by the property cycle.
“I have been very impressed by what I have seen in my first five months as Rightmove’s CEO and would like to extend my thanks to the team for delivering so strongly.
“This is a business which has performed consistently well over an extended time-period, and I am excited by the growth opportunities that I see over the long term in the wider UK property market.
“From here, our aim is to expand our platform, our products and our data, for both customers and consumers, to further digitise the sector, both in our core business and in newer growth areas.
“We also want to play an active role in facilitating the much-needed green transition of the real estate market, leveraging our vast pool of data and insight to do so.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub
