Rightmove shares were up 1.3% to 653.4p in early morning trading on Friday after the property search group confirmed a 9% revenue climb to £162.7 million in HY1 2022 compared to £149.9 million the last year.
Rightmove attributed its revenue to customers increasing their use of digital products to upgrade their packages.
The company announced a 6% rise in operating profit to £121.3 million from £114.9 million and an underlying operating profit growth of 5% to £122 million against £117.1 million.
“Our success during the first half of the year demonstrated the ongoing resilience of our customer base and the continuing love for and trust in our brand,” said Rightmove CEO Peter Brooks-Johnson.
“Despite the housing market cooling slightly, activity on our platform was significantly higher than in the pre-pandemic market of 2019, with home-hunters using Rightmove for 1.5 billion minutes every month.”
“Our continuous improvements and innovation have helped to increase engagement from home-hunters in tools such as sold prices, along with further investment from agents and developers as they continue to believe in the effectiveness of our digital products and tools to help them run and grow their businesses.”
FY guidance
The property hunting site currently expects ARPA growth in HY2 to broadly mirror pre-pandemic levels, exceeding previous FY guidance.
Rightmove said it projected phasing costs to be slightly weighted in HY2 and consistent with prior indications of between 25% to 26% to revenues.
The company added it was confident in meeting its market guidance for FY 2022.
“This is another decent set of results from Rightmove, helped by a housing market that has remained robust,” said Wealth Club head of equities Charlie Huggins.
“How long can that last with interest rates rising and inflation at a 40-year high? Only time will tell. However, even if the housing market stalls, there are reasons to think Rightmove could prove resilient.”
“The reality though is that Rightmove’s exceptionally dominant market position means estate agents simply can’t do without it. If the housing market goes into a tailspin, Rightmove will feel it, but probably a lot less than estate agents and housebuilders.”
Rightmove increased its interim dividend 10% to 3.3p against 3p year-on-year.