A shares column in The Times has commended Rightmove shares – giving them a ‘hold’ rating when last time it urged investors to ‘sell’.
The Tempus column last looked at Rightmove a little over a year ago, in November 2018, when it found some off-putting factors.
Among these was a “becalmed” membership level, not least because of rivals such as OnTheMarket offering listings for free. At the time, Rightmove was also set to be turfed out of the FTSE 100.
However, yesterday the column, by Miles Costello, found that Rightmove has not only retained its place as one of Britain’s biggest public companies, but has pushed up its revenue and profits, and also made an “interesting acquisition” in the rental sector – tenancy referencing firm Van Mildert, bought for up to £20m.
The shares have also recovered strongly since November 2018 – up by 40%, which rather begs the question as to how investors who acted on the ‘sell’ recommendation then might feel now.
Tempus admits there is still a question mark over membership numbers.
“Becalmed” was its description in November 2018, but since then membership has fallen, by 1% in the six months to last June.
Tempus says: “While that doesn’t initially look encouraging, according to the company most of the departures came from small agents with limited stock on their books and the drop masked a strong increase in arrivals from the developers of new homes.
“Indeed the falling membership during the first half of the year is the only area where the numbers have been moving in the wrong direction.
“Revenues, operating profits, average revenue per advertiser and the dividend all grew.”
Tempus bases its new ‘hold’ advice on Rightmove’s “resilience and ability to diversify and grow in a highly competitive property market”.
Yesterday, Rightmove shares closed little changed at 635p.
The firm is currently embarked on a buy-back programme which will last until February 27, and which it announced formally to the stock market.
It has set aside £25m to buy back up to 3,846,153 shares which it will then cancel – ie, take out of circulation.
The effect of buy-back programmes is generally to maintain or increase share prices.
* Yesterday an agent told EYE that his firm has received the “annual” letter from Rightmove about price hikes: one of his branches is being asked to pay 51% more, and the others about 30% extra. Quintyn Howard-Evans, director of Cooper and Tanner in Somerset, said it will mean an extra £500 per month for some of his firm’s 13 branches.
Comments (20)
Following on from my posting 9/1. 30 minute mumbo jumbo call from RM about trying to prove how they add value to my business with the marketing and leads they send me. Very nice girl who seemed to fully understand that paying for an optimiser package at £1500.00, was a lot of money, and she said she wouldn’t want to pay it either if she was in business, after I re-iterated they don’t do any work for this fee, in that I produce all the details, and my software provider sends it to them to display on their site.
My notice to leave is 1/3, and we now have a further phone meeting next week, as a follow up, to see how they can justify that I should stay. The important bit to digest is, that she said it would take time to get the facts but was prepared to do this.
How about everyone banging in their notice and see how much disruption that causes in the cogs of RM, plus let the press know all agents are handing in their notices.
Keep you posted with the upshot.
Fixedwingtofly I went through the same process, a nice girl rang me and tried to justify the fees and services, I produced data that proved OTM was producing far more enquires for letting but less on sales, she told me in an arrogant tone that OTM leads were not as good a quality I put her right as all the OTM leads became tenants, I asked how much for Sales only, her best offer was £895 + VAT well I’ve left in September and the only difference it’s made is I’ve actually have made more and saved over £5k up to now. OTM and FB is doing it for me I signed up to Zoopla in September at £200 per month for 6 months on there best package so far its not producing so contract finishes end of February so save even more. Local advertising OTM and FB is working for me.
i agree there should be a mass exit unfortunately there are too many faint hearted agents who can’t see pas the nose ends.
RMEXIT, RMEXIT, RMEXIT… its happening just not being publicised… don’t believe what the press say,
RIGHTMOVE EXIT..
Sacked RM in September 2019 saved over £5k so far….
I got this from Property Pundit and it worked..
1. Cancel your Rightmove subscription, make the call TODAY, don’t delay another day
2. If you’re not ready to give up Rightmove membership, only subscribe to the most basic package, ditch micro-sites, banners and featured properties.
3. If you’re not giving up RM membership just yet, remove all Rightmove stickers in your office, logos from stationery & web sites
4. Start the conversation with existing & potential customers that Rightmove prices are forcing the industry to have a re-think about membership and whether it provides enough value-for-money. Stress that savings from leaving RM would enable your business to expand its marketing and improve service to its clients. Back it up by confirming that 100s of branches are leaving every month, that you expect this figure to increase and that you are preparing for the day you say goodbye.
5. If you share property details on social media, use links to your own website not to the portals
6. Upload your content to your own website first. Upload to the portals (if you must) a couple or a few days later.
7. Ensure you promote YOUR website FIRST, don’t give any portal traffic
8. Stress that people register their details with YOU rather than the portals. Remind them that property does sell ‘off market’ or without the need for a portal upload.
9. Make your feelings known to Rightmove. OK, they’ll probably ignore them but you never know.
10. Finally, put the action plan together for when you finally give Rightmove the heave-ho. Remember they thrive on your fear of leaving, there is life after Rightmove.
11. Don’t moan on industry forums about Rightmove fees if you’re not prepared to carry out any of the points above.
TAKE BACK CONTROL TODAY
Portals?
In particular, National Portals.
In my view, they still have a “value”, however having received the “Annual Rightmove Increase Letter” yesterday, it’s fair to say that Rightmove no longer offers me “value”.
Would I remain, at my current Subscription? Yes. Will I remain at their 2020 increased rate? No.
I vociferously supported, both financially & at a local marketing level, the former “OTM 1 Portal Saviour” that we now know as OTM 2. I exit them shortly, for reasons I have well documented on here.
If Rightmove cannot provide the “value” acceptable to me, I leave …….another “smaller” yet very successful Agent. I won’t break Rightmove. In reality, the loss of my income will just be spread amongst larger agents (who will eventually reach the same decision as me). Rightmove think they have found a New Income Stream (dripping roast) ……New Homes & Developers Direct.
As with the Newspaper Industry, Portals will find those “New Clients” much more attentive/reactive to increasing costs as the “Financial Screw” is turned by Rightmove.
It’s an odd strategy/gamble by Rightmove …….just keep turning the screw and the cash will keep flowing in? Until recently, that strategy has worked very well. However, I see Agents leaving Rightmove, I see clients less concerned about Rightmove.
Zoopla? ……..we’ll see. So many reasons that I would not choose them as my National Portal Provider ……yet Rightmove are simply helping me change portal.
Maybe that’s it ……Rightmove are simply helping me change portal. Akin to “if you keep flogging something, it either has to escape, or die”. Or…. Or…… Or……… Kindness? ……which in a business sense is working with your clients, understanding them, understanding their needs…..
Sounds like you have a case of Stockholm Syndrome. Pull the plug on them. Invested the savings I have made over the last 2 years on the alternatives and still had change to pay for 2 holidays a year with my wife.
2 hoildays with the wife-no way !
Good for You WiltsAgent. My Life is One Big Holiday.
I’m not interested in Holidays, just a single National Portal that delivers “value” for me.
I left them in Jan 2019. Saved myself 12k [ minus some OTM fees ] – and diverted more payments into social media marketing / Google Ads / Facebook / other promotions etc – and my revenue has gone up. Yes its been tough- because you feel you could be losing to the guy up the road but no agency should be on their knees in an orange boiler suit waiting for the Rightmove execution. If we all put our foot down- this hiking by 30-50% [ i mean highway robbery ]-shouldn’t happen….we as agents don’t need to take it – bent over a desk by Rightmove..
We left and haven’t looked back. You’ll see just how much Rightmove need YOU and not the other way around when; you do leave, properties still sell, and you save a load of money each month.
I’ve had real pleasure telling clients that we are deliberately not on Rightmove as we don’t want to have to put our fees up to line their shareholders pockets. We are more competitive than ever and we are still selling properties.
Your data, your clients, your money, your choice.
oooooon the market !
Not posted this for a while but nothing seemingly changes…….
Today’s action plan for agents:
1. Cancel your Rightmove subscription, make the call TODAY, don’t delay another day
2. If you’re not ready to give up Rightmove membership, only subscribe to the most basic package, ditch micro-sites, banners and featured properties.
3. If you’re not giving up RM membership just yet, remove all Rightmove stickers in your office, logos from stationery & web sites
4. Start the conversation with existing & potential customers that Rightmove prices are forcing the industry to have a re-think about membership and whether it provides enough value-for-money. Stress that savings from leaving RM would enable your business to expand its marketing and improve service to its clients. Back it up by confirming that 100s of branches are leaving every month, that you expect this figure to increase and that you are preparing for the day you say goodbye.
5. If you share property details on social media, use links to your own website not to the portals
6. Upload your content to your own website first. Upload to the portals (if you must) a couple or a few days later.
7. Ensure you promote YOUR website FIRST, don’t give any portal traffic
8. Stress that people register their details with YOU rather than the portals. Remind them that property does sell ‘off market’ or without the need for a portal upload.
9. Make your feelings known to Rightmove. OK, they’ll probably ignore them but you never know.
10. Finally, put the action plan together for when you finally give Rightmove the heave-ho. Remember they thrive on your fear of leaving, there is life after Rightmove.
11. Don’t moan on industry forums about Rightmove fees if you’re not prepared to carry out any of the points above.
TAKE BACK CONTROL TODAY
A poster on another site has worked out that RM is costing them £500 incl VAT PER PROPERTY!! Unsustainable.
Maybe they will do a ‘Greggs’ and give us all a share of the massive profits…………………………………………Or maybe not!
“most of the departures came from small agents with limited stock on their books” Typical of RM to belittle those that have chosen to leave due to their bully boy tactics and belief that they are the best, when in fact they are not good value for money and some of the leads produced are dubious to say the least as the people are never contactable!
We left almost a year ago and have felt no ill effect. In 5 years we will not be reliant on the portals in the same way and unless they change significantly, they will be among the brand names lost in the 20’s!
I know of one agent locally who handed in their notice 12/2018, and has now agreed a lower priced subscription saving £700.00 pcm. I have a meeting at 4.00pm over the phone with the new RM rep, after handing in my notice yesterday. We will see what transpires. I have had enough of being ripped off. Just think of the saving you make as a single office. This saving could be put into your pension, helping you to retire earlier. That’s my thinking, and if we lose some business to the **** hole local agents who will use this against me for not being on RM so be it. If I am successful in reducing my costs to RM I will post tomorrow after the discussion. I will also post if I am leaving them. Already I feel better having taken the first step. With all this mental health discussion in the media, take back control of your business before they take control over you.
Over the phone!!!!!!!! do they not want the confrontation face to face i cannot get my RM rep to come out perhaps these vampires can only come out at night ?????????
new life, Either that, or ‘fixedwingtofly’ is one of those ”smaller agents with limited stock”…If a partner firm can’t even be bothered to send one of its foot soldiers to meet with a client that has handed in his/her notice…its a pretty stark indication of the level of contempt RM holds for its paying/long-term members.
RM: ”We’re quite happy with our new developer customers…so scr*w you and your limited stock, humanoids. We don’t need you now, you pathetic excuses for business people*…” 😉
(* We did actually need you for a very long time, but hey- what you gonna do about it?…Yeh, that’s right…move {on}).
Is it just me, or do RM appear to be almost actively trying to alienate a large proportion of its client-base?
‘take back control of your business before they take control over you’.
Sorry to break the news to you but they did that years ago.
Glancing at this headline my initial reaction was ‘an article about time share, really!’………………….i haven’t had any coffee yet.
Disgusting dirty robbing b******ds!!
Leave them now and don’t look back. No agent should ever need Rightmove.