Rightmove annual profit jumps on higher revenue and increased website traffic

27th Feb 2015 08:21

Online property portal Rightmove Plc Higher revenue saw its annual pret-ax profit increase, as revenue was boosted by growth in website traffic and higher average revenue per advertiser.The company said its pre-tax profit for 2014 rose 25.7% to £122m, as revenue grew 19.4% to £167m, while earnings per share rose 32% to 97.7p.Traffic to rightmove.co.uk increased 10% to 15.4bn page views, while the site's average revenue per advertiser grew by 13% to £684 per month, as customers spent more on its additional advertising products."Rightmove's popularity with the British home moving public has gone from strength to strength as more home movers visited more often and spent more time on Rightmove than ever in 2014," said group chief executive Nick McKittrick, adding that the site had recorded 100m visits and 1.5bn pages of property viewed in January.The FTSE 250 group, which has "a strong competitive position and attractive growth prospects" according to analysts at Westhouse Research, hiked its final dividend to 22p per share from 17p, bringing its total dividend to 35p per share from 28p in 2013.Westhouse Research said the stock rating was under review from 'add', claiming its current year forecasts could prove conservative