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Rightmove profits almost wiped out after HIP u-turn - 04/09/2006

The online estate agency portal Rightmove saw almost six months of profits wiped out by their decision to exit the Home Information Pack market after the government made the decision to not make home condition reports mandatory. The decision was made after lobbying by mortgage lenders, who advised that buyers would still need their own surveys. The home condition report was seen as the most profitable aspect of the pack and on the back of the governments decision, Rightmove decided to concentrate instead on increasing revenues. Underlying profits rose 138% to £8.3 million in the first six months of the year but a massive investment into the packs and exit costs found Rightmove only making pre-tax operating profits of £1.6 million. Ed Williams, managing director of Rightmove has remained positive over the firms prospect generally and identifies that in August, 18 million visits were made to the site, its highest number ever and the number of property firms using its site rose by half to 14,680.

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