Rightmove Posts Profits of £135 Million and Reveals £3 million Investment in Coadjute

The market-leading British property portal, Rightmove has released a report on its performance for the first half of 2024 showing typically robust revenue, profit and operational metrics. Notable points from the company's message to the market include:

• Revenue for the period was £192.1 million, up 7% year-on-year.
• Operating profit stood at £131.6 million (up 2%) while profit after tax was £98.9 million.
• Average Revenue Per Agent (ARPA) was £1,497, up 6% year-on-year.
• Agent memberships were stable at 19.061, up 1% from the beginning of the year.

Despite the increased competition in the British market since U.S. real estate giant CoStar Group took over OnTheMarket late last year, Rightmove continues to deliver for its shareholders. The portal logged impressive revenues of £192.1 million in the first six months of 2024 amid persistently challenging mortgage rate conditions.

"We’re pleased to deliver a strong set of H1 results, and to be progressing in executing our plan to build an even more valuable digital platform for the UK property industry," commented Rightmove CEO, Johan Svanstrom.

"Our performance came against the backdrop of the sustained challenging mortgage rate environment. The period saw a pick-up in existing-homes listings and transactions, a continued yet softening imbalance of demand and supply for rentals, and a tentative outlook for new homes development volumes. With the election now concluded, the property market looks forward to potential interest rate reductions which will further stimulate activity," he continued.

"On the back of our leading position in the market, we have exciting momentum expanding our products and innovation for consumers and partners and remain confident in Rightmove’s long-term prospects."

Rightmove reported increased revenue from all of its business segments in HY1 as residential agents, new home builders, commercial agents, and agents listed on its 'Overseas' portal all upgraded their packages and bought add-on products.

There was also strong performance for Rightmove's 'Strategic Growth Areas' which comprise its Commercial, Mortgages and Rental Services divisions. In the first half of 2024, these businesses together generated £11.2m of revenue, up from £8.6 million.

The Milton Keynes-based company believes it can create significant value away from its core residential agent listings business and revealed its plans for its Strategic Growth Areas in a recent Capital Markets Day presentation.

The average revenue per agent increased 6% compared to the first half of 2023 and, despite OnTheMarket having reported increased agent numbers earlier this week, Rightmove's customer base remained stable at 19,061.

Rightmove's report also revealed the amount it invested in conveyancing and property data company Coadjute in April. The portal operator contributed £3 million of the £10 million raised by the PropTech company for a 7.4% shareholding in a business it believes has "immense" potential to "digitise and transform the house purchase journey".

The company reiterated its outlook for the year continuing to expect revenue growth of 7-9%, with agent membership growth of up to 2% and full-year ARPA growth of £75-85. Despite returning £100 million of its HY1 profits back to shareholders through dividends and share buy-backs, Rightmove's share price has remained stable through much of 2024 as the market waits for the impact of the increased competition from CoStar and OnTheMarket.