Rightmove tightens guidance, backs UK housing market

(Sharecast News) - Rightmove tweaked its full-year forecasts on Friday, but remained upbeat about the long-term prospects for the UK housing market. Updating on trading, the blue chip property portal said it expected annual revenues to come in around £390m, within its guidance range of 7% to 9% growth.

Revenues grew 10% in 2023 to £364.3m.

It also reiterated its forecast for an adjusted operating margin of 70% before one-off costs, and upped guidance for average revenue per advertiser. That is now expected rise by between £85 and £95 on the £1,431 Rightmove made last year, up on an earlier forecast for between £75 and £85.

However, membership numbers were predicted to grow by around 1%, in comparison to an earlier forecast for up to 2%. Rightmove said the change reflected a "slower-than-expected recovery in new homes developments".

It continued: "Our new homes developer partners are encouraged by the government policy support that has been announced, although new build activity remains softer than the prior year."

Rightmove remained optimistic about the overall UK housing market, however.

It said house price growth, while subdued, remained positive, with stable mortgage rates supported by the prospect of further cuts to the cost of borrowing.

On Thursday, the Bank of England trimmed interest rates by 25 basis points, the second reduction this year.

Johan Svanstrom, chief executive, said: "This has been another period of strong progress for Rightmove.

"We remain confident in achieving meaningful strategic and financial growth in 2024. We see continued momentum building product dept across our platform, driving revenue growth in the core business and without our strategic growth areas."

Shares in Rightmove were largely flat at 0900 GMT, at 597.4p.