21 July, 2017
The poor home services performance overshadowed a group-wide revenue increase of five per cent to £165.3m, with adjusted operating profit rising by three per cent.
The current consensus rating on Moneysupermarket.Com Group PLC (LON:MONY) is Buy (Score: 2.55) with a consensus target price of GBX 369.09 per share, a potential.
Revenue for the first half of the year in home services, which includes gas and electricity, fell by 33 per cent year-on-year to £16.9m.
The core Moneysupermarket.com business saw its revenues grow 4%.
Moneysupermarket said this was affected by lower switching activity by consumers compared to 2016, where customers sign-up through the website to collectively take advantage of a one-off deal from energy providers. "Specifically, we believe the strength of its brand, the breadth of operations highlighted above, the quality and functionality of its desktop and mobile offerings, and perhaps most importantly, its track record of delivering substantial savings to its customers mean it is well placed to capitalise on growth in switching activity", he added. Its TravelSupermarket.com segment offers customers vehicle hire, flights, hotels and package holidays, among others.
The company, known for its ads of tubby men in high heels, was set for it worst trading day in four years, after warning that operating profits would be at the lower end of City forecasts.
As at 30 June 2017, the group had net cash of £17.7mln (2016: £10.7mln), even after spending £20mln spent to date of the £40mln share buyback announced in February.
However, profit is growing (3%) and revenues are up 5%.
Chief Executive Mark Lewis said: "Insurance switching grew an encouraging 18%".
"Our focus now is on using our tech investment to find new ways to help our customers, particularly on mobiles, and improving our everyday energy switching", he said.
