Rightmove Year Profit Up 33 Pct, Confident On 2009

Rightmove shares, already up 18 percent since the start of 2009, climbed another 4.0 percent to 215.75 pence by 1020 GMT.

Rightmove, Britain's most popular property website, beat forecasts with a 33 percent rise in 2008 operating profit and said it had seen a strong start to this year with double the number of email customer enquiries.

"The board is confident of meeting its expectations for the coming year," said Rightmove, which received one email enquiry every two seconds at its busiest in January.

"We expect advertising this month slightly higher than a year ago, but the overall trend (in 2009) will probably be a decline," managing director Ed Williams said. Advertising accounts for nearly 100 percent of the free website's revenue.

Rightmove shares, already up 18 percent since the start of 2009, climbed another 4.0 percent to 215.75 pence by 1020 GMT.

It made a 41 million pounds ($59 million) operating profit in 2008, on revenue up 31 percent to 74 million pounds even though ad revenue eased in the second half.

The final dividend was set at 7 pence, for a total dividend of 10 pence, up 25 percent.

Assessing the damage in the property market, Williams said an eight-month freefall in property prices and new home developments had "largely been arrested" in the first two months of 2009, with a turnaround possible in the spring.

Rightmove, which last November cut 78 jobs, said estate agents had abandoned the property market en masse during the second half of 2008 as the number of house sales plummeted.

"The overall decline in the number of agents, coupled with a sharp reduction in house building across the UK in 2008, has resulted in shrinkage in our advertiser base," the company said.