Property website Rightmove has reported a 60 per cent increase in first-half underlying operating profit, despite claims that the UK's housing market is slowing.
In a statement today the company confirmed that its underlying operating profit in the six months to June 30th climbed to £13.2 million, up from £8.3 million for the corresponding period of the previous year.
The operator of the UK's busiest property website also revealed that the number of advertisers using the site grew by 26 per cent over the first-half, during which 18,514 companies used the home search facility to market their services.
Companies such as estate agents and property rental firms use Rightmove to promote their businesses, with the average revenue per advertiser up 29 per cent over the year to June 2007 – climbing to around £234.
Rightmove said that its performance had been boosted by a growth in its advertising membership base and the launch of new products designed to allow estate agents and property developers to increase the effectiveness of their marketing.
The percentage of estate agents who are now Rightmove members has increased to 88 per cent, up from 74 per cent a year ago. The company also claims that nine out of ten properties available in the UK are now featured on Rightmove.co.uk.
Meanwhile visits to the website are also up by 58 per cent, climbing to an average 24.3 million visits per month.
Commenting on the results, Rightmove managing director Ed Williams said: "Rightmove continued to grow rapidly in the first half of the year as we increased our membership of agents and new homes developers.
"Rightmove will continue to expand its advertising services both to property advertisers on Rightmove.co.uk and to a wider group of advertisers on our new mapping site, Aboutmyplace.co.uk," added Mr Williams, who said he was confident about the company's prospects for the second-half.
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