Profits near £100m milestone at Moneysupermarket
PRICE comparison giant Moneysupermarket.com says it will post “strong” full year figures despite a sharp fall in insurance revenues during the final quarter.
In a trading update for 2015 the company based at St David’s Park, Ewloe near Chester, said revenues would be up 14% to £282m, while adjusted operating profit would be slightly ahead of City analysts’ expectations and would come in up 13% at £99m. The full results will be released on March 1.
The company, whose latest TV advert features a dancing security guard with the code-name #epicwolf, said it is well-placed to make further progress in 2016 as a result of its diversified business.
In the three months to December 31 there was a 10% fall in revenues from insurance products to £28.9m – its biggest segment within MoneySupermarket.com.
The company said this fall was “slightly more than expected”.
It added: “At a time when we were finishing the migration to our new technology platform, we experienced stronger competitor marketing activity than anticipated and chose to maintain our margins. Initiatives are underway to bring momentum back to our Insurance business through the course of 2016.”
Money (credit cards and current accounts) grew revenues by 28% to £17.4m in the last quarter amid strong demand from consumers switching credit cards and current accounts. Home Services revenues grew 25% to £10.2m as a collective energy switch initiative attracted record customer numbers.
Chief executive Peter Plumb said: “2015 has been another strong year for the group with all brands delivering healthy growth. I am particularly pleased that we have helped many more people switch their energy supplier, credit card and current account than ever before.
“In December we successfully rolled out our new technology platform to car and home insurance and to TravelSuperMarket.com achieving a major milestone in our three year technology investment programme, and paving the way for benefits for our customers in 2016.”
