Sales and earnings rise at Moneysupermarket
ONLINE comparison site Moneysupermarket.com said that its revenues for its third quarter were 14% up on last year, while earnings increased by 25%.
Visits to its site increased by 3% during the period, with numbers increasing across its money, insurance and home services division, although there was a slight decline in the number of visitors looking for travel deals.
Revenues for its money channel were 8% ahead of last year, fuelled by an increase in income from credit products (loans, mortgages, credit cards and debt solutions).
Meanwhile, insurance revenues climbed 15%, while home service revenues increased by 107%, with the bulk of money earned by people using utility switching services.
Visitor numbers to travelsupermarket.com fell 4% and revenues dropped 11%, which the firm said was due to customers managing their discretionary spend more tightly.
The company said that it also continues to generate cash, and by the end of October it had a cash pile of £18.7m even after paying an interim dividend of £7.7m, a special one-off dividend of £20m, tax payments of £6.9m and the initial £1m paid to acquire Local Daily Deal at the end of August.
Its purchase price for Local Daily Deal – a discounted retail site – could eventually reach £11m if financial targets are met.
The company added that trading in the first four weeks of its fourth quarter to November 8 were 14% ahead of last year.
Chief executive, Peter Plumb, said: “Moneysupermarket.com continues to make good progress. Revenues in the third quarter were 14% ahead of the same period last year – which itself was a tough act to follow.
“We saw solid growth across our money, insurance and home services businesses as consumers continue to seek to make the most of their money in what is still a very challenging environment.
“The recent acquisition of Local Daily Deals will further widen our offering, helping customers to save more money through local and national deals with retailers.”
