Shares in Moneysupermarket (LSE: MONY), the UK’s leading comparison shopping site for insurance and financial products, were up 1.3% in early trading this morning after the group reported an 18% increase in Q3 revenues.
Moneysupermarket.com, which accounted for 92% of the group’s 2013 income, experienced insurance switching growth across all of its offerings. It reported strong progress with revenues increasing by 18% over the quarter.
A flattening out of motor insurance premiums helped to drive insurance sales 15% higher as more motorists compared prices and coverage, while the Money section of the site reported 24% revenue growth, driven by the continuing increase in credit card and loan comparison volumes.
The MoneySavingExpert’s Cheap Energy Club, which constantly monitors member’s tariffs and alerts them to any better options on a monthly basis, had another successful quarter, contributing to Home Services’ 20% growth.
Smaller websites MoneySavingExpert.com and TravelSupermarket.com grew 21% and 23% respectively, although their combined contribution to the group was still only 20% over the period.
The group remains on track to invest £17m into the business for the full year and it seems to be paying off, with 3.7m customers using the website this year. The group also launched a pioneering new motor insurance site, which was not named, to a small number of customers. CEO Peter Plumb said,
“We think this is easily the best way for customers to find the policy that best suits them – you can compare features, benefits and exclusions of policies as well as price. We’ll be rolling out the new technology to more customers across our business channels in the months ahead.”
At 30 September 2014, the group had net debt of £18.1m. Management reported strong trading and margins in October and expected this to continue throughout Q3. The exceptional fourth-quarter demand for energy switching experienced last year is unlikely to be repeated, but the board remained confident that the group will meet its full-year expectations.
