(Alliance News) - Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC on Thursday reported a sharp drop in annual profit, but was able to maintain its dividend.
Shares in the FTSE 250-listed firm were 6.0% higher in London on Thursday morning at 284.20 pence each.
For 2020, the Chester, England-headquartered price comparison website recorded pretax profit of GBP87.8 million, down 24% from GBP116.0 million in 2019.
Active users dipped to 11.5 million from 13.1 million, while revenue per active user fell to GBP16.19 from GBP16.40.
Revenue dropped 11% year on year to GBP344.9 million from GBP388.4 million. Moneysupermarket blamed the revenue drop on "exceptional" market conditions. Excluding its travel channels, revenue slipped just 4%, the company noted.
Insurance revenue declined by 8% in 2020, and Money revenue dropped 27%, but Home Services revenue was flat.
"Our end markets continue to be impacted by Covid-19 restrictions and the pace of lockdown measures being eased will be a major driver of our 2021 performance," the company said.
As a result, Moneysupermarket has offered a wide guidance range for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for 2021 - between GBP96.4 million and GBP128.8 million.
For 2020, adjusted Ebitda was GBP107.8 million.
The company continued: "Reaching the upper end of the consensus range will require strong and rapid recovery in both Money and travel related channels. If dynamics within Money were close to fourth quarter 2020 levels and travel restrictions stay in place, adjusted Ebitda will likely be towards the lower end of the consensus range. Given the likely shape of the trading recovery, as well as the good 2020 first quarter performance, we expect revenue and profit performance to be firmly weighted to the second half."
Moneysupermarket maintained its annual dividend at 11.71p.
Chief Executive Peter Duffy said: "The business is resilient, and our dividend reflects our confidence for the future."
"Our job now is to encourage consumers to engage with us more and save on more of their bills. We will use our data better so consumers find our sites easier to use and are reminded when there are savings available to them," Duffy added.
Moneysupermarket said its early 2021 trading reflects lockdown measures and currently expect its first-quarter performance for Insurance and Money to be similar to the second quarter of 2020.
"Car, home and life insurance have been stronger than in April 2020, but we will shortly lap strong comparables for life and travel insurance. Within Money, tight provider lending criteria have been compounded by a market-wide drop in demand similar to the initial drop in traffic seen during the second quarter of 2020 lockdown," Moneysupermarket continued.
"In Home Services, customer savings in energy remain low and we are lapping a strong comparable when savings levels were high. Home Services revenue is therefore down significantly year on year although we note the recent price cap increase may improve performance as the quarter progresses."
The company said it remains confident in its long-term growth prospects.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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