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Rightmove hikes dividend as profits boosted by agencies and new homes

Last updated: 11:27 28 Feb 2020 GMT, First published: 08:22 28 Feb 2020 GMT

Rightmove PLC - Rightmove hikes dividend as profits boosted by agencies and new homes

Rightmove PLC (LON:RMV) has hiked its final dividend by 10% after new homes and agencies provided a boost to its profits in 2019.

The online property advertising site reported and underlying operating profit of £219.7mln, up 8% year-on-year, while revenues also rose 8% to £289.3mln.

READ: Rightmove upped to ‘neutral’ as JP Morgan predicts “strong transformation” in online classifieds sector

Average revenue per advertiser, meanwhile, increased £83 to £1,088 per month, although the number of memberships was down 3% to 19,809 due to a decline in what the company said were “mainly low-stock agency branches”.

As a result of the performance, Rightmove increased its final dividend 10% to 4.4p per share, taking the total dividend for 2019 11% higher to 7.2p.

Looking ahead, the company said “post-election stability” had led to an “optimistic start to 2020 for the UK property market and that the online property advertising market will “continue to grow”.

Rightmove added that with record traffic to its website in January at 152mln visits, it was “confident of making further progress in 2020”.

“I'm pleased that many of our customers who are seeing opportunity are choosing to invest in our digital solutions to grow their businesses. By working with our customers, 2019 has yet again demonstrated that Rightmove is a business which can continue to grow in uncertain times”, said chief executive Peter Brooks-Johnson.

In a note, analysts at Peel Hunt maintained their ‘reduce’ rating and 570p target price, saying that while market conditions at the start of 2020 were “encouraging”, it may take time to convert to more stable membership numbers.

The shares were down 4.1% at 608.6p.

--Adds broker comment and updates share price--

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