Price website offers half of future profits
Moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website, will increase its dividend payout ratio to 50 per cent of all future profits.
The bold move was revealed yesterday alongside interim results, and was welcomed by shareholders in the firm, who saw their investment dramatically decrease because of last year’s flotation. The interim dividend is held at 1.3p per share.
The company announced that its revenues increased by 27 per cent to £99.4m, with internet revenues up 30 per cent to £95.3m.
But it also said that its loans and mortgage channels had suffered the consequences of the credit crunch, reflecting the decline of the mortgage marketplace in general.
Chief executive Simon Nixon said that the results demonstrated the resilience of the company’s diversified business model with its Travel, Insurance and Home Services businesses continuing to develop.
“We’ve continued to strengthen our balance sheet and today we are able to announce our maiden interim dividend and an increase in our dividend policy,” he said.
The company expects solid revenue growth for its second half, though slower than the first half.
“Overall, in the longer term price comparison remains a large and growing sector and we will continue to invest to enhance our leading and diversified market position,” Nixon added.
Moneysupermarket is also considering increasing its market expenditure, because of increased competition from rival sites such as gocompare.com and confused.com.
Its shares rose 2.5p to 79p yesterday.
