21 Jan 2022 07:00
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
21 January 2022
ONTHEMARKET PLC
("OnTheMarket", the "Group" or the "Company")
TRADING UPDATE
OnTheMarket plc, the majority agent-owned company which operates the OnTheMarket.com property portal, is pleased to announce the following update on trading.
Adjusted operating profit1 ahead of expectations
In the announcement of its interim results on 12 October 2021, OnTheMarket stated that the Group expected to achieve approximately breakeven adjusted operating profit1 for the six months ended 31 January 2022 ("H2 21/22").
The Group's operational performance has continued to be strong through H2 21/22 and revenues for the full year ended 31 January 2022 ("FY 21/22") are now expected to be slightly ahead of market consensus.
The Company's focus on disciplined operational and cost management has continued. When combined with a higher level of development investment in the new website and brand launch that will be capitalised rather than expensed as incurred in the income statement, the Group now expects adjusted operating profit1 to be positive in H2 21/22 and to be at least £2.5m for the full year FY 21/22.
Outlook
The Directors believe the outlook for the Group is unchanged to that announced in its interim results on 12 October 2021 and the Board looks to the future with confidence. With the transformation of OnTheMarket to create a tech-enabled property business across the broader property ecosystem underway and accelerating, the Group remains confident that it has a platform from which to drive long-term profitable growth.
OnTheMarket looks forward to providing a further update in a post year-end trading update in late February.
Jason Tebb, Chief Executive Officer of OnTheMarket, commented:
"We are pleased to be reporting a strong performance and further operational progress in keeping with our objective of building a tech-enabled property business. We achieved a great deal in 2021, culminating in the launch of our new website and branding which have been well received by agents and serious property seekers. There is a lot more to come and we look forward to delivering this in the year ahead."
Footnotes
1) Adjusted operating profit is defined as operating profit before share-based payments (including charges relating to shares issued for agent recruitment), specific professional fees and non-recurring items. This is an alternative performance measure and should not be considered an alternative to IFRS measures, such as revenue or operating profit.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
OnTheMarket 0207 353 4200
Jason Tebb, Chief Executive Officer
Clive Beattie, Chief Financial Officer
Tulchan Communications 0207 353 4200
Giles Kernick
Oliver Norgate
Zeus Capital (Nominated Adviser/Joint Broker) 0203 823 5000
Jamie Peel, Martin Green, James Hornigold
(Corporate Finance)
Benjamin Robertson (Broking)
Shore Capital (Joint Broker) 0207 408 4090
Daniel Bush, John More (Corporate Finance)
Fiona Conroy (Corporate Broking)
Background on OnTheMarket:
OnTheMarket plc, the majority agent-owned company which operates the OnTheMarket.com property portal, is a leading UK residential property portal provider.
Its objective is to create value for shareholders and property advertiser customers by delivering an agent-backed, technology enabled portal - offering a first-class service to agents and new homes developers at sustainably fair prices and becoming the go-to portal for serious property-seekers.
OnTheMarket provides a unique opportunity for agents to participate in the equity value of their own portal. Agent backing and support enable OnTheMarket to display 'Only With Us' properties which are either exclusive properties advertised at OnTheMarket.com by customers who do not list their properties with either Rightmove or Zoopla, or properties listed 24 hours or more before agents release these properties to Rightmove or Zoopla.