OnTheMarket posted a 14 per cent increase in revenue on last year to £17million, thanks to a ‘proactive marketing strategy’ and focus on technology.
The London-headquartered property website which started in 2015 reported a 9 per cent rise in average revenue per account (ARPA) to £205m for the six months to 31 July 2022.
CEO Jason Tebb said that, as a result, the company looks on track to meet its full year expectations.
Property website OnTheMarket has revealed a 14 per cent increase in revenue on last year to £17 million thanks to a ‘proactive marketing strategy’ and focus on technology
He added: ‘Our transformation to a tech-enabled property business across the broader property ecosystem is accelerating and our momentum is building.
‘The Group has continued to trade well and expects revenue growth, strategic progress and operational discipline to continue, with full year adjusted operating profit weighted towards H2 22/23 as revenue growth, including from existing and newly launched products, combined with a largely fixed cost base, contribute to increased operating margins.’
OnTheMarket shares were up 1.4 per cent to 74.5p in afternoon trading on Thursday, cutting year-to-date losses to 43 per cent.
OnTheMarket has established tie-ups with numerous tech-focused businesses, including development finance platform Brickflow, autonomous photo editing company Autoenhance.ai and application software developer InsureStreet.
The group, whose predominant competitors are Rightmove and Zoopla, also made a £350,000 investment in InsureStreet and completed an extended partnership with property data specialist Sprift.
In terms of progress, the AIM-listed company told investors its focus on ‘serious property seekers’ continued, with valuation leads up 69 per cent versus H1 21/22.
Like other property firms, OnTheMarket benefited enormously during the Covid-19 pandemic from more robust demand for housing propelled by the stamp duty holiday, low interest rates, and Britons looking for more spacious locations to live
Traffic and average monthly leads per advertiser also increased relative to the preceding six months to 31 January 2022, up 11 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.
Other wins for the business included signing Foxtons and the Lomond Group for listing agreements, and the renewal of contracts with high-profile agency customers.
Like other property firms, OnTheMarket benefited enormously during the Covid-19 pandemic from more robust demand for housing propelled by the stamp duty holiday, low interest rates, and Britons looking for more spacious locations to live.
This has driven considerably more audience traffic to its platforms, higher revenues and average monthly leads among its advertisers, and helped it make an annual profit in 2021 for the first time ever.
However, OnTheMarket’s interim results were published as it was revealed that British house prices rose at the slowest pace since early in the coronavirus crisis last month, with rising mortgage rates starting to bite.
Enquiries by new buyers fell for a fifth month in row and expectations for the year ahead suggest a slight fall in prices, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) monthly survey.
The RICS house price balance – measuring the difference between the percentage of surveyors reporting price rises and those seeing a fall – fell sharply to +32 in September from +51 in August, signalling a slowdown in price growth.
Despite a rocky outlook amid the property sector, OnTheMarket CEO Tebb remains optimistic about the company’s positioning.
He said: ‘Underpinning our confidence in the future is the continued support of our agent customers, evidenced by our contract renewals and our role as the ‘agents’ portal’, our New Homes customers and our consumers, who have responded very positively to the changes we have made.
‘We have a strong pipeline of customer and consumer-led new products and services which will also further differentiate our proposition.’
