LONDON (Alliance News) - Price comparison service Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC on Wednesday said revenue grew in the first quarter of 2016, driven by good performances from its Money and Home Services channels and a better Insurance performance.
Moneysupermarket said group revenue in the quarter to the end of March hit GBP83.7 million, up 9.0% year-on-year. The company said it remains confident it will meet its expectations for all of 2016.
Revenue for MoneySuperMarket.com brands grew 12%, while sales for MoneySavingExpert.com rose 43%. This was partially offset by revenue for the TravelSupermarket.com channel falling 24% in the quarter, due to the chilling effect of recent terror attacks in Europe on the holiday market.
Moneysupermarket said in its final results in February the travel business was facing a deteriorating market. The terror attacks in Paris towards the end of 2015 and the bombings in Brussels in March have both served to hit traveller sentiment and put consumers off from booking holidays, delivering a knock-on effect to TravelSupermarket.
Within the MoneySuperMarket.com channel, Money revenue grew 21%, with strong performances for credit card and current account products, while the Home Services unit saw revenue grow 39% year-on-year.
Home Services has benefited from a rise in collective switching of energy providers, by which a group of households band together to secure a better deal, and "attractive" fixed-term tariffs being offered.
On Tuesday, online property portal Zoopla Property Group PLC said its uSwitch price comparison service also had benefited from the price cuts being offered by energy suppliers and the subsequent increase in customers switching.
"Our collective energy switches are becoming ever more popular. The recent CMA report not only emphasised the importance of price comparison sites to encourage energy competition, but also looks set to make it easier for us to help even more customers," said Peter Plumb, Moneysupermarket's chief executive.
In March, the Competition & Markets Authority, the UK's antitrust watchdog, published its report on reforming the UK energy sector in March.
Following price cuts made by the Big Six energy suppliers over the course of 2015, the CMA's focus turned to increasing the number of households switching supplier to get a better deal on their energy supply.
The CMA is trying to boost the number of customers switching by giving more power to price comparison sites, including giving the sites access to information such as customer meter numbers and allowing them to negotiate exclusive deals with suppliers.
Insurance revenue declined 2.0% in the first quarter, Moneysupermarket said, though that was an improvement on the first two months of 2016, when insurance revenue fell 4.0%. Moneysupermarket boosted marketing spend around its insurance products in order to counter heightened competition from rivals.
Moneysupermarket first flagged the issues facing the Insurance vertical in January, saying revenue from this channel had declined by more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2015.
It said competitor marketing had stepped up just as Moneysupermarket was completing its migration to a new technology platform, and it had decided to defend its margins. This dragged on motor and home insurance revenue and resulted in Insurance revenue falling 5.0% in the second half of 2015.
The company is in the final year of a technology investment programme designed to boost its data capabilities, build a new aggregation engine and upgrade its customer experience.
Moneysupermarket shares were down 0.2% to 321.40 pence Wednesday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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