Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Rightmove PLC on Friday hailed customer retention and increased advertising spend as it predicted a upturn in revenue growth in 2025.
The Milton Keynes-based online property portal said pretax profit slipped 0.5% to GBP258.4 million in 2024 from GBP259.8 million in 2023. But underlying operating profit rose 3.5% to GBP273.9 million from GBP264.6 million. Basic earnings per share were broadly flat at 24.4 pence compared with 24.5p.
Revenue increased by 7.0% to GBP389.9 million from GBP364.3 million as estate agency and new homes developer partners continued to upgrade packages, increase use of digital products and renewed contracts, Rightmove said.
In response, shares in Rightmove were 2.5% higher at 659.40 pence each in London on Friday morning.
The firm reported "sustained" traffic growth, with a total of 16.4 billion minutes spent on the platform in 2024, up 6.5% from 15.4 billion in 2023. It said it was the fourth-busiest UK-based digital platform in 2024, behind only the BBC, newspaper publisher Reach PLC, and the UK government's own website, gov.uk.
Rightmove highlighted continued growth in the uptake of its top packages: 'Optimiser Edge' for estate agents, with 31% of independent agents subscribing in 2024, up from 8% in 2023, and 'Advanced' for new home developers, with 60% of developers subscribing in the year, up from 53% in 2023.
Retention of existing partners, at 90%, was the second-highest in the last 10 years, Rightmove noted, and above 89% in 2023.
Average revenue per advertiser rose 6.5% to GBP1,524 per month in 2024 from GBP1,431 in 2023, and total membership increased by 1.4% to 19,047 from 18,785, with estate agency branches up 2% and new homes developments down 1% since the start of 2024.
Looking ahead, Rightmove expects revenue growth of 8% to 10% in 2025, building on the progress in 2024 and benefiting from the full-year impact of Optimiser Edge uptake, further product-led growth across core business; and continued progress within strategic growth areas of Commercial Property, Mortgages and Rental Services.
It expects around 1% growth in membership and ARPA growth of GBP95 to GBP105 across estate agency and new homes developers. It expects an underlying operating margin of 70%, rising from 66% in 2024.
"The strength of our business model, our clear strategy, and our focus on innovation underpin the board's confidence in Rightmove's outlook for 2025 and beyond," the company said.
Rightmove declared a final dividend of 6.1p, up 7.1% from 5.7p a year prior, taking the total dividend to 9.8p, up 5.4% from 9.3p.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
