Moneysupermarket expands its service offering

The headline figure was driven by fourth-quarter growth of the Home Services division, up by an impressive 36 per cent. By contrast, the Money vertical declined by 14 per cent over the same period, which management said was in part due to slowing growth in demand for consumer credit. But even here, the group said that it expects that it will return to growth this year. 

The launch of a new energy autoswitch service and a developing B2B business indicates that its product evolution is progressing well. The price comparison website’s active users increased modestly to 13.1m from 12.9m, although revenue per active user was up to £16.40 from £15.90, as the number of users engaging in more than one channel increased - a wholly positive development.

The group faced some pressure on its gross margin, down two percentage points to 69 per cent, as consumers shift to mobile channels, where they are typically “less committed to the transaction”. It is encouraging, then, that the group has guided for technology capital expenditure of £10m in 2020, though, by definition, the online sector is in a constant state of innovation.

Broker Peel Hunt expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £130.5m and EPS of 19.6p for the December year-end, rising to £145m and 21.8p in 2021.