(Alliance News) - Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC on Thursday said the easing of lockdown restrictions will change "change the dynamics" of its market.
Shares in the FTSE 250-listed price comparison website were down 6.3% in London on Thursday morning at 324.40 pence each.
"Through this tough time for household finances, we have continued to help consumers make substantial savings on their household bills. MoneySavingExpert has provided support to many people with over 16 million visits to its pages dealing with coronavirus-related problems," Moneysupermarket said.
The company said its trading has been "effective" during this period but noted it is still too early to have "full visibility" on when and how the consumer and provider sides of its marketplace will be back to normal, so it continued to suspend forward financial guidance for 2020.
Moneysupermarket ended May with net debt of GBP800,000.
Chief Executive Mark Lewis said: "The lockdown restrictions have had a significant impact across our marketplace. As the lockdown eases, we've seen motor insurance start to recover. But with substantially fewer financial services products on offer from providers, our Money business is significantly suppressed."
The company said its car insurance search volumes declined by 22% year-on-year in April, but recovered gradually in May to "more normal levels" in recent days.
"There are signs of lower car insurance premiums in April and May compared to last year, so we now view the likelihood of a return to premium inflation in 2020 as low," Moneysupermarket added.
The company noted its other key insurance channels were hit by the closure of estate agents and restrictions on home moving.
Moneysupermarket continued: "In home insurance over 10% of our enquiries are normally from those who have moved home in the last month. As the housing market begins to re-open, we expect performance will improve."
The travel bans continue to mean almost no demand for travel and travel insurance products, Moneysupermarket said.
For credit, the company said it has seen a "very significant reduction" in the "attractiveness and availability" of credit and banking products as lending criteria have tightened and interest rates have fallen, and Moneysupermarket does not expect this to change in the immediate future.
Search demand for credit products has decreased materially, down 37% year-on-year for loans and cards combined in April 1, caused in part by lockdown measures leading consumers to postpone significant spending, the company said.
Moneysupermarket added: "This impact was compounded by lower conversion as tighter lending criteria mean consumers are seeing fewer attractive search results. In April, the proportion of consumers eligible for loan products on our MoneySuperMarket site fell from above 85% to below 65%. These trends have persisted through the period."
The company noted, however, it has seen strong growth in energy switching.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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