Onthemarket toasts pandemic property boom with strong hike in revenue
Onthemarket has hailed a busy year of house-hunting during the pandemic, as the property platform reported a surge in revenue for the year to 31 January.
Onthemarket said it expected full-year adjusted revenue to be around £22.5m, marking a 20 per cent year-on-year hike during the pandemic.
It also expects adjusted operating profit for the year to balloon to £2.3m, up from a loss of £9.2m the year before.
The group said its home valuation tool led to a boom in activity, after the chancellor’s introduction of a stamp duty holiday during the pandemic boosted house sales.
Rishi Sunak is facing mounting pressure to extend the stamp duty holiday to keep house prices afloat as the country faces a major easing of lockdown restrictions over the coming months.
The number of new buyers has continued to grow over the past few weeks despite the fact that it is now too late for most to beat the stamp duty deadline of 31 March.
Onthemarket said it expects marketing expenditure to return to more usual pre-Covid levels over the coming year as the lockdown housing flurry settles.
“Our results to 31 January 2021 build on the strong foundations we have in place,” said chief executive Jason Tebb.
“]We will seek to further evolve our offering through on-going product innovation and increasing consumer engagement through targeted, data-led marketing and the provision of a suite of additional services which will benefit estate agents, housebuilders and consumers,” he added.