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Penny-pinchers flock to Moneysupermarket

Moneysupermarket posted broad gains as visitors sought out cheap deals for energy and credit
March 3, 2015

More and more people are shopping and saving at Moneysupermarket.com (MONY). Brisk activity across the group's price comparison websites sent adjusted operating profits up 12 per cent to £87.3m.

IC TIP: Buy at 245p

Flagship website MoneySuperMarket.com benefited from a sudden rise in motor insurance premiums, which prompted users to switch insurers, driving insurance revenues up 8 per cent. Money revenues, meanwhile, climbed 13 per cent as low interest rates and greater variety and quality of credit products fuelled demand for loans, mortgages and credit cards. The group's popular Cheap Energy Club service - which alerts subscribers to potential energy savings - fuelled a 20 per cent rise in home services transactions.

Travelsupermarket.com reported top-line growth of 28 per cent. Chief executive Peter Plumb put that down to improved consumer confidence and a focused TV and radio campaign in the key months of January and July. MoneySavingExpert.com, meanwhile, continued to appeal to enthusiastic users who felt the site was "fighting my corner".

The group invested just over £16m to build a new aggregation engine and improve its websites' user interface, and it plans to match that outlay this year. It also acquired OnTrees, a web and mobile app that gives users an overview of their finances.

Broker UBS expects EPS of 12.9p in 2015, up from 12.3p in 2014.

MONEYSUPERMARKET.COM (MONY)
ORD PRICE:245pMARKET VALUE:£1.3bn
TOUCH:245-246p12-MONTH HIGH:274pLOW: 160p
DIVIDEND YIELD:3.3%PE RATIO:25
NET ASSET VALUE:27p*NET CASH:£13.1m

Year to 31 DecTurnover (£m)Pre-tax profit (£m)Earnings per share (p)Dividend per share (p)†
201014911.01.53.83
201118124.33.34.53
201220531.54.85.74
201322643.16.47.28
201424866.09.78.00
% change+10+53+52+10

Ex-div: 26 Mar

Payment: 8 May

*Includes intangible assets of £166m, or 31p a share

†Excludes special dividends of 3.93p in 2011 and 12.92p in 2013