Rightmove has announced that it will issue its half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2023 at 7am on Friday, 28 July 2023.

A presentation for analysts will be available online from 7am at https://plc.rightmove.co.uk/investors/results-reports-presentations/year/2023.

The last financial report issued by the property portal revealed that operating profit for the year ended 31 December 2021 was £226.1m, up from £135.1m a year earlier, thanks in part to a boost in monthly Average Revenue Per Advertiser (ARPR), which was up 9% on 2019 to £1,189 per agent.

Performance relative to 2020 reflected the Covid customer discounts provided between April and October 2020, therefore comparisons to 2019 were also included.

Rightmove revealed that revenue was up £15.6m, or 5%, on 2019, reflecting the growth in both customer spending and ARPA, partially offset by a decline in new homes revenues. Relative to 2020, revenues grew by 48%, as similarly strong product usage and package upgrades combined with an absence of 2020’s Covid customer discounts to drive strong revenue growth. 

The operating profit of £226.1m, up 6% on £213m in 2019, and up 67% on on the level in 2020. 

Underlying operating profit of £231m was recorded, up 5% on £219.7m in 2019 and 68% on the £137.5m achieved in 2020. 

Basic earnings per share of 21.3p up 9% from 19.6p compared to 2019, and underlying earnings per share of 21.8p, up 7% from 20.3p. Compared to 2020, basic earnings per share up 69% compared with 12.6p in 2020 and underlying earnings per share up 70% compared 12.8p in 2020. 

Final dividend for 2021 of 4.8p, up from 4.5p per ordinary share last year, taking the total dividend for 2021 to 7.8p. 

Some £238.8m of cash was returned to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends in 2021. Again, this compares favourably for investors, with £148.5m returned in 2019, and £30.1m in 2020.

Cash, including money market deposits, at the end of the period of £48m was recorded, down from £96.7m in 2020, but up from £36.3m in 2019.

Financial highlights

Operational highlights

Average Revenue Per Advertiser (ARPA) up 9% (£101) on 2019 to £1,189 per month (2019: £1,088; 2020: £778)

Relative to December 2019, Agency ARPA is up by £120, or 12%, driven primarily by product purchases, package upgrades and pricing actions

Strong uptake of Rightmove’s premium Optimiser 2020 package, with 21% of independent agents now subscribing, up from 9% in December 2020

Membership numbers are 1% down since the start of the year, at 18,969; with 16,110 (+188) Agency branches and 2,859 (-416) New Homes developments (31 December 2019: 16,347 and 3,462; 31 December 2020: 15,922 and 3,275)

Time on the Rightmove website averaged 1.5 billion minutes per month over the period, up from 13 billion in 2020 and 1 billion in 2020. 

Site visits of 2.5 billion, compared with 2.1 billion in 2020 and 1.6 billion in 2019, up 56% from 2019 and up 19% from 2020. 

Continued innovation with the launch of three additional digital marketing solutions and further progress in Rental and Mortgages as part of digitising more of the transaction. 

Rightmove also said its is committed to becoming a Net Zero business and has submitted fully verified near-term and net zero targets to the SBTi to achieve a significant reduction in emissions by 2030

Rightmove also said it would aim to maintain its disciplined cost management and focus on revenue growth, with costs in the historic range of 25%-27% of revenues.