Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) flagged its key numbers just three weeks ago, and laid the blame for a weaker second quarter firmly at Google's door. The search engine has been tinkering with its natural search algorithms and, in an industry where topping the search results is everything, insurance revenue at the price comparison website fell in June. Yes, it delivered the promised double-digit revenue growth and 29 per cent jump in cash profits to £39.9m. But a new advertising campaign begins in August, a month later than last year, so group sales were flat in July. Its money site is struggling, too, and the share price has slumped.
Three of the company's four businesses increased revenue. Travel and home services did especially well, up 30 per cent and 84 per cent, respectively, driven by TV and radio advertising and utility switching. Insurance did better than last year, too, but Google-related issues and rivals' advertising campaigns affected interest in motor and home cover - limiting growth to 11 per cent. And the government's Funding for Lending scheme continues to hurt the money site, where revenue fell 13 per cent to £32.2m. That said, comparisons do get easier from here. There was £6m of cash profits from MoneySavingExpert.com, too.
Broker N+1 Singer expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £71.6m, giving adjusted EPS of 10p (from £62.8m and 9p in 2012).
MONEYSUPERMARKET.COM (MONY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 176p | MARKET VALUE: | £954m | |
| TOUCH: | 175-176p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 214p | Low: 118p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.5%† | PE RATIO: | 30 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 23p* | NET CASH: | £25.4m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 102 | 11.6 | 1.70 | 1.80 |
| 2013 | 112 | 19.8 | 2.80 | 2.16† |
| % change | +10 | +71 | +65 | +20 |
Ex-div: 14 Aug Payment: 13 Sep *Includes intangible assets of £185m, or 34p a share †Excludes 12.92p special dividend | ||||
