OnTheMarket has just announced its audited results for the year ended 31 January 2022.

It shows that revenue and ARPA are up 32%, reflecting growth in paying customers, the migration of customers on discounted rates towards full-tariff contracts, continued growth in new homes revenues and Covid-19 customer support discounts that totalled £2.6m in 2021.

Adjusted operating profit is up 13% to £2.7m, up from £2.4m in 2021, in part reflecting a 80% increase in marketing expenditure to £10.6m (2021: £5.9m).

Cash generated from operating activities of £3.7m is reported, diown from £5.1m in 2021: £5.1m, reflecting cash generated by Agents’ Mutual Limited, partially offset by investment in Glanty Limited since the acquisition.

OnTheMarket has also revealed a strong balance sheet, with year-end cash of £8.4m, down from £10.7m in 31 January, after the acquisition of Glanty, strategic investments and full furlough scheme repayment in the period, which together represented £2.6m of cash payments.

There has also been a greater focus on valuation leads, which is up 58% from FY21, and serious property-seekers, with site visits up 6% to a record 283m, which is an increase on the 267m recorded in 2021. 

Jason Tebb, chief executive officer, commented: “I am delighted to be reporting a strong set of results which show that our strategy is working. Having listened and engaged with thousands of agents we are more convinced than ever in our strategy of building a differentiated, tech-enabled property business.

“With our strong performance and momentum in the business the future remains very exciting for OnTheMarket. We are continuing to deliver increased value to our customers and serious property seekers, with innovative new products and a refreshed brand.” 

Highlights of the year

OnTheMarket says that it has continued to make significant progress with its strategy of building a differentiated, technology-enabled property business based on the following pillars:

      Portal

+   A complete refresh of the user experience at OnTheMarket.com, launching our new website, logo and branding.

+   To emphasise that OnTheMarket features thousands of newly listed properties 24 hours or more before Rightmove or Zoopla every month, ‘New & exclusive’ properties, together with properties featured on OnTheMarket.com and not on either Rightmove or Zoopla (“totally exclusive”), are now labelled as ‘Only With Us’.

      Software solutions

+   Completed the acquisition of Glanty. Product development is ongoing, in particular the development of a CRM system and an associated product targeted at the sales market, complimenting the teclet lettings product already available.

o   Commercial partnership with Canopy to give all our agency customers the opportunity for free and unlimited comprehensive tenant referencing check, potentially saving them thousands of pounds a year.

       Data and market intelligence

o   Commercial partnership with Sprift Technologies to provide our customers with ‘best-in-class’ data and market intelligence tools and, more recently, a full-service canvassing and prospecting system.

o   Release of the monthly OnTheMarket Property Sentiment Index, with a unique focus on buyer and seller confidence, determined from consumer responses to questions with an average response rate of over 120,000 per month.

      Communications and marketing

o  A new marketing and communications strategy, with new TV creative to drive increased levels of consumer awareness amongst serious property seekers and generate valuation leads for customers.

“Get Real About Moving. Get OnTheMarket.”

o  Commercial media partnership signed with Reach plc, the UK’s largest commercial news publisher, to further boost consumer engagement.

       Outlook

·      Positive start to FY23 with current trading in line with the Board’s expectations.

·      UK residential property markets remain very active, with demand for properties significantly outweighing supply, notwithstanding a slight recent rebalancing as the level of new instructions increased.

·      The Board believes that the Group’s recent operational and financial progress, together with a substantial, loyal advertiser base, provides a strong platform for the implementation of its strategy.

Tebb added: “I would like to thank the OnTheMarket team for their hard work and commitment to delivering for all of our stakeholders.”