OnTheMarket, which is holding its annual general meeting today, says early indications of the success of its latest initiatives can be seen in key operational metrics.

In a statement issued this morning the company said that as of 30 June 2021, total advertisers had grown to 13,289, an increase of 4.5% from 31 January 2021, principally due to an increase in agency branches listing, up 4.9% to 11,169.

Visits to the portal in June 2021 were the second highest achieved by the company, at 28 million.

Throughout June, the portal generated more than 1.8 million leads – an average of 137 per advertiser, an increase of 5.4% from the average of 130 leads per advertiser per month for the six months ended 31 January 2021, a period that benefitted from the intense market activity following the lifting of restrictions in May last year.

A statement from OTM said: “Residential property markets remain very active. Despite the changes to the stamp duty holiday from the end of June, our Property Sentiment Index launched earlier this month highlights a continued pent-up demand, a re-evaluation of housing needs arising from the impact of Covid-19 and continuing low mortgage interest rates.

“We will continue to invest in the business to take advantage of our growth opportunities whilst remaining focussed on careful management of cash. Our balance sheet remains strong and at the end of June, our cash balance, after completing the acquisition of Glanty Limited, stood at £9.7m and we had no borrowings.

“We would like to thank our agent shareholders and all our loyal advertisers for their continued support, as well as our colleagues for their dedication and hard work in challenging times. We continue to strive to provide the highest levels of service and innovation to our customers, at sustainably fair prices.”

OTM has previously reported on early but significant progress towards delivering its vision, including technological and commercial developments such as the acquisition of the remaining 80% of Glanty Limited that it did not already own bringing a range of additional products, services and capabilities.

Also it has struck commercial partnerships with Reach plc, Canopy and Sprift Technologies to support our offering; as well as in-house development and release of new products and services to drive greater interaction between agents and consumers.

Christopher Bell, non-executive chairman, is expected to make the following remarks at the AGM: “Our financial year to 31 January 2021 was a year of strong performance and considerable progress. We were delighted to achieve our first year of profitability since admission to AIM, notwithstanding the onset and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It is particularly pleasing to report that, from the foundations established, our strong performance has continued in the current year with further operational progress made and trading in line with the Board’s expectations.

“We have a clear vision in place to build a differentiated, technology-enabled property business providing services for agents, housebuilders, advertisers and consumers that offers ‘best in class’ products and platforms across the broader property marketplace.”

He is expected to add: “Our focus now is integrating these developments into our proposition and to maximise the opportunities they present. At the same time, we will continue to explore new partnerships and roll out further enhancements in order to continue differentiating our offering and provide ever increasing value to our customers.”