Property portal Rightmove reports its revenue has shrunk by a third for the 6 months ended 30 June 2020.
The listed firm said revenue was down 34% year on year to £94.8m from £143.9m in the previous year.
The firm said the impact was reflected in a 75% discount support, which it offered to its customers for the period April to June 2020.
The online property website said it expects further discounts it has provided to its customers in the second half will have a revenue impact of £35m-£37m.
Despite the fall in revenue, the company said traffic growth had improved in the first half of 2020, with visits up 5% year on year, helped by a stronger than expected increase since the reopening of the property market in England in May.
Peter Brooks-Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, said: ” Our customers have shown incredible resilience and ingenuity to continue to trade through this exceptional period.
“I am grateful for both their continued support and also their proactive engagement to ensure that home hunters have been well informed and protected. I’m also immensely proud of the Rightmove team for the unerring dedication which has seen Rightmove operate seamlessly throughout this challenging period and offer unprecedented support to the industry through discounts and accelerated innovation.
“Despite the current strong market we’re mindful that potential economic challenges and further Covid restrictions in the second half of the year make it hard to predict how sustained the increase in activity will be.
“Rightmove’s purpose is to make home moving easier in the UK and the restrictions placed on our daily lives because of Covid have shown the value of the innovations we are delivering to better enable this.”
Earlier in the week the company announced the appointment of new CFO Alison Dolan from publisher News UK.
https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/rightmove-hires-cfo-from-news-uk/