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Rightmove profits climb 39% as more agents sign up

27 August 2010
Written by rosalind renshaw

A rise in the number of agents and an overall willingness to pay more to Rightmove has helped the portal giant to a 39% rise in profits.

Rightmove this morning released its half-year results for the six months up to June 30.

Share prices in Rightmove rose 25p yesterday, ahead of the announcement. This morning, they rose another 9p.

There has been a 7% increase in the number of advertisers with high retention rates and more estate agency branches opening. The number of agents advertising on Rightmove now stands at 17,993.

The company says agents are also choosing to adopt more of the additional range of advertising products with discretionary spend seeing an 89% increase and overall spend per advertiser up by 20%.

This has helped Rightmove increase revenue from continuing operations by 26% to £39.2m (2009: £31.2m) and underlying operating profit from continuing operations by 39% to £26.8m (2009: £19.3m).

Page impressions are up 22% to 3.9bn (2009: 3.2bn), which puts Rightmove into the top ten UK websites. Market share of page impressions on the top four UK property websites has also increased from 80% to 82%.

Ed Williams, managing director, said: “The strength of home hunter activity on Rightmove in what remains a very challenging housing market saw site traffic rise by 22%.

“We continue to develop Rightmove for the benefit of home hunters and our advertisers, and the record traffic figures and growth in advertisers show Rightmove is delivering. 

“We now give our advertisers the opportunity to convey who they are, what they do and what they offer, in addition to promoting the individual properties they have on their books. 

“Someone buying a home in the UK today is most likely to have first seen it on Rightmove. So how estate agents choose to advertise on Rightmove can make a major difference to their business success. The impact of this additional spending can be clearly seen in the financial results.”
 
The site’s record-breaking traffic has continued into August when Rightmove recorded its two busiest days ever. Pages served on August 10 topped 25.4m, but the record was broken again on August 17 with 25.5m pages.

Rightmove also this morning announced another round of TV advertising to hit screens on September 15, the third set of TV ads for Rightmove this year. This week, competitor Zoopla launched its first TV ad campaign and claimed that it was the only one of the major portals which had grown its traffic.

Comments

  • icon

    Get real, Ted! Do British Gas give you back money at the end of each ever-successful year? BT? Sky? You pay for a service; they provide it. The fact that they make more money than you do is immaterial. RM should be admired by you all. Perfect example of setting fees and sticking to them! My heroes!

    • 09 September 2010 16:45 PM
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    Richard - if Agents only value themselves at 0.9%, then this should be easily put to your advantage. Make no apology for your fee structure - in my experience it is harder for the others to justify 'cheap' ;0)

    • 09 September 2010 16:38 PM
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    An issue for me is there is so little that the public can see as a difference between agents now, the stronger RM become the more bland and similar agents look- OK, service should be key of course, but is it? We’ve all got idiots “selling” themselves at 0.9%, the public are duped in thinking all agents are the same, same office locations, same place to advertise, and all look the same on RM.

    • 31 August 2010 13:14 PM
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    ted - i think the point is they do give something back, generally more leads than any other portal, buyers, sellers. Yes they cost the most but a Mercedes costs more than a Kia and i knwo which one i'd rather drive. If i wasn't on rightmove i wouldn't have a business anymore - times change. They have helped me cut down on newspaper ads and that in itself almost pays for their monthly subscription!

    • 30 August 2010 19:23 PM
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    You're all missing the point. The more important question is where is Mr Brightmove these days? He could always be relied upon in these situations to pipe up with an inane and vacuous comment designed to promote his 'business'. But as Hamlet said "the rest is silence". In a strange sort of way I actually miss him ...

    • 28 August 2010 19:27 PM
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    Its about time they gave something back to their loyal agents!! cut their monthly fees slightly.....give something back toi the hand that feeds.

    • 28 August 2010 10:58 AM
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    Rebel: Like I said... envy. They have a product that currently can not been beaten. They know it; you know it; and the public know it. Why then are they so wrong to exploit that?

    Sure as Hell I would...

    • 27 August 2010 15:02 PM
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    This is an outrage!

    • 27 August 2010 13:26 PM
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    monkeytennis: Is that really you - or have you been 'cloned' like I was?

    Doesn't seem like one of your normal posts...

    • 27 August 2010 12:53 PM
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    J S: So... are you on Rightmove or not?

    • 27 August 2010 12:34 PM
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    Well done RM, the estate agent doesnt sell houses these days, RM does it for them, the estate agents ust has to win the instructuions,which is why I don't have any sales staff, just me taking them on, this increses my bottom line and UK unemployment.

    • 27 August 2010 12:31 PM
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    The most important stat is OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN 66% (Turnover £42.3m, Operating profit £27.9m). Now you know where their staff's overwhelming arrogance comes from.

    What's your OP margin?

    • 27 August 2010 12:28 PM
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    Hello again - banging my drum!
    Yes, it is obvious that agents have to be on the best site, RM, but what has concerned me for some time is RM's increasing monopoly and possible danger that the profession will be left at the mercy of just one on-line medium. Why are not many more agents using the free sites and advertising them - as they do RM? - at least it could give some sort of competition to keep RM on their toes - just in case!

    • 27 August 2010 12:08 PM
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    OK, I admit it - yes, I have re-joined (mainly because none of the rest of you, despite big talk at the time, joined me in leaving!). As you can see, my return has single-handedly boosted RM's shares dramatically, and I am now in discussion with their advertising agency on my staring role in the new TV campaign. Possible treatment includes my impersonating the Churchill Dog with the catch phrase "Oh No" ! Another suggestion was that I should say "I don't give three flying ducks for the other portals", or a fairground location with my comment at the stall "Hoopla's no way to ring a new home". The copywriters have not finally decided yet, so please use the comments section beneath for your ideas on my treatment of the ad. Have a good Bank Holiday - Big T !

    • 27 August 2010 11:01 AM
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    Not surprised they're doing well when the average fee per agent is £700+vat for lettings and sales. I'm a sole trader and that represents a hefty part of my income!

    • 27 August 2010 10:43 AM
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    Well done RM! Growing their business in such a depressed market shows not only their ability, but the belief - whether it be Agents or their customers - that it is indeed necessary to be listed on there.

    Anyone commenting otherwise is I would suggest simply envious of success of others.

    My only question: if all these page impressions are being viewed, presumably by individuals with an interest in the homes for sale and rent, then why isn't there more sales activity?

    • 27 August 2010 10:00 AM
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