Rightmove (RMV) remains at the top of its game. The UK's largest property website kept its 77 per cent market share and the number of times people loaded a page on Rightmove.com rose by 13 per cent to 8.1bn, which means it remains one of the top ten websites in the UK.
The company, which charges estate agents a monthly fee to advertise their properties, added 3 per cent more advertisers in the first half. Positive news, of course, but the rate of growth was down from the 4 per cent achieved in 2013. And therein lies the rub: when you are at the top of your game where do you go next?
Competition is an ever present threat. Rival property website Zoopla is snapping at Rightmove's heels and estate agents are teaming up to launch their own rival website Agents' Mutual. Rightmove's response has been to innovate its offering and extend its range of advertising products. Recent innovations include getting estate agents to advertise in e-mailed property alerts, and instant alerts for house seekers that let them know within minutes that a new property has come on the market.
Numis expects pre-tax profit of £121m for the full year, giving earnings per share of 94.9p (£104m, 79.4p).
| RIGHTMOVE (RMV) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 2,302p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 2.3bn | |
| TOUCH: | 2,300-2,303p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,814p | LOW:2,047p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.3% | PE RATIO: | 27 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | * | NET CASH: | £6.1m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 67.2 | 44.6 | 34.0 | 11 |
| 2014 | 80.4 | 58.8 | 46.8 | 13 |
| % change | +20 | +32 | +37 | +18 |
Ex-div:08 Oct Payment:07 Nov * Negative shareholders' equity | ||||
