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(Alliance News) - Rightmove PLC said on Friday it had made a strong recovery from Covid in 2021, with growth in profit and revenue on pre-pandemic times.
The London-based online real estate portal company reported revenue in 2021 of GBP304.9 million, up a substantial 48% from GBP205.7 million in the prior year. Rightmove noted it had granted "exceptional Covid customer discounts" in 2020, which is behind the large growth. On a pre-pandemic comparative of 2019, revenue was up by 5.4% from GBP289.3 billion.
Rightmove said the growth in revenue from 2019 was led by higher average revenue per advertiser, which was up by 9% on two years prior. This was partly offset by a decline in New Homes revenue.
Pretax profit rose by 67% to GBP225.6 million from GBP134.8 million in 2020. However, when compared to 2019, profit before tax saw a more modest increase of 9.5% from GBP213.6 million.
As consumer demand returned and reduced the amount of properties on the market, property agents were incentivised to boost their spend with Rightmove to win more business, it said. However, the market climate resulted in fewer new entrants to the agency industry for Rightmove to recruit.
Despite this, the company managed a 1% increase in total agency membership, with a record 91% retention rate. Agency revenues were up 58% year-on-year to GBP224.5 million from GBP141.6 million. This was also a 7.3% increase from GBP209.2 million in 2019.
New Homes listings on Rightmove fell by 6% over the year, as construction was hit by delays due to Covid. Total revenue from New Homes was GBP50.0 million, which was a 10% decrease from 2019, but a 23% increase from 2020.
Rightmove will pay a final dividend of 4.8 pence per share, a 6.7% increase from 4.5p in 2020. The total dividend for 2021 will be 7.8p, while 4.5p was the only payout for 2020.
In 2022, Rightmove expects the number of transactions to return to pre-pandemic levels as the market normalises, and its outlook is confident.
Rightmove shares were up 4.1% to 641.00 pence each in London on Friday morning.
Chair Andrew Fisher commented: "Following a year of strong recovery and a return to the growth trajectory our stakeholders expect, we are confident that our investment in technology and people will uphold Rightmove's position as the UK's number one property portal. We are committed to investing in our core business, to providing the premium service that our customers expect and the truly compelling consumer experience home hunters know and love, in addition to pursuing our complementary new strategies."
By Elizabeth Winter; elizabethwinter@alliancenews.com
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