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Rightmove PLC on Friday said despite economic uncertainty and a ‘cooling’ property market, sales activity and demand has not slowed as it reported increases in both interim profit and revenue.
For the six months to June 30, the London-based property portal increased revenue by 9% to £162.7 million from £149.9 million a year before. Customers have increased their use of Rightmove's digital products, with more upgrading their packages, and as a result, average revenue per advertiser increased 11% to £1,290 per month from £1,163 a year prior.
Rightmove's pretax profit grew 5.5% to £121.2 million from £114.7 million the previous year. The company recorded its highest net growth in sales agent branches since June 2016 due to Rightmove's position in a ‘strong’ housing market.
The company declared an interim dividend of 3.3 pence versus 3.0p a year prior
Looking forward, Rightmove expects agency branch numbers and new home developments to be ‘broadly stable’ for the second half of the year. ARPA growth is anticipated to exceed previous guidance and roughly mirror pre-pandemic growth levels. The board is confident that, despite economic uncertainty, full year expectations will be met, it said.
Chief Executive Officer Peter Brooks-Johnson said: ‘Our success during the first half of the year demonstrated the ongoing resilience of our customer base and the continuing love for and trust in our brand. Despite the housing market cooling slightly, activity on our platform was significantly higher than in the pre-pandemic market of 2019, with home-hunters using Rightmove for 1.5 billion minutes every month.’
Shares in Rightmove were down 0.2% at 643.80p in London on Friday
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