Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC (LON:MONY) has announced its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2023
Record revenue and continued strong strategic progress
| Year ended 31 December | 2023 | 2022 | Growth % |
| Group revenue | £432.1m | £387.6m | 11 |
| EBITDA * | £131.9m | £115.5m | 14 |
| Profit after tax | £72.3m | £69.3m | 4 |
| Adjusted basic EPS ** | 16.0p | 14.4p | 12 |
| Basic EPS | 13.5p | 12.7p | 6 |
| Operating cashflow | £102.2m | £104.4m | (2) |
| Net debt *** | (£19.8m) | (£39.0m) | (49) |
| Dividend per share | 12.1p | 11.7p | 3 |
Strategic highlights
· Helped households save an estimated record £2.7bn
· Data transformation complete, proprietary Dialogue data platform powering 76% of MSM user enquiries on core product lines
· Common technology platform supporting ability to scale whilst simplifying our operations
· Expanded offering with membership-based customer propositions: MSM SuperSaveClub, MSE App and Quidco
· Incremental provider propositions launched and grown: B2B, Tenancy and “Market Boost” data services
· Ranked first in the Technology sector on the FTSE Women Leaders Review report; ranked fifth in The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers list
Financial highlights
· Record revenue at £432m, despite no material revenue from energy switching
· 11% revenue growth led by exceptional trading in Insurance, supported by efficient acquisition and retain and grow strategy
· EBITDA up 14%, ahead of revenue growth, to £132m with margins expanded to 31% demonstrating continued robust cost management
· Adjusted basic EPS up 12%
· Operating cashflow before tax increased 7%, following the increase in tax rates operating cashflow after taxes are down 2%
· Full-year dividend up 3% to 12.1p, £65 million distribution to shareholders
Peter Duffy, CEO of Moneysupermarket Group, commented:
“We helped customers save a record £2.7bn in 2023. The more we can help households save, the more the Group grows. We’re proud that in tough times for consumers, MoneySuperMarket, MoneySavingExpert and Quidco have been able to make a real difference for so many.”
*Notes:
* EBITDA is operating profit before depreciation and amortisation. In both the current and prior year there were no adjusting items within EBITDA. This is consistent with how business performance is measured internally.
**Adjusted basic earnings per share is profit before tax adjusted for amortisation of acquisition related intangible assets as described on page 11, divided by the number of weighted average shares. A reconciliation of adjusted basic earnings per share to the interim financial statements is included in note 4.
***Net debt is cash and cash equivalents of £16.6m (2022: £16.6m) less borrowings of £34.5m (2022: £44.0m), deferred consideration of £nil (2022: £9.8m) and loan notes payable to Podium’s non-controlling interest of £1.9m (2022: £1.8m). It does not include lease liabilities. Net debt has been restated for the year ended 31 December 2022 to include loan notes payable to Podium’s non-controlling interest.
Quarter 4 trading
| Revenue for the three months ended 31 December 2023 | Revenue for the year ended 31 December 2023 | |||
| £m | Growth % | £m | Growth % | |
| Insurance | 52.1 | 27 | 220.0 | 28 |
| Money | 23.1 | 4 | 100.2 | (3) |
| Home Services | 10.0 | (6) | 39.0 | (2) |
| Travel * | 2.9 | 9 | 20.6 | 33 |
| Cashback * | 16.9 | 1 | 59.8 | 0 |
| Inter-vertical eliminations * | (2.3) | 254 | (7.5) | 166 |
| Total | 102.7 | 11 | 432.1 | 11 |
* Growth % reflects changes to the comparative revenue for each vertical for the 3 months and year ended 31 December 2023 to align with the change in presentation of inter-vertical eliminations (see note 2)
Revenue in the fourth quarter grew 11%, driven by strong performance in Insurance.
· In Insurance, revenue were up 27%. Exceptionally high premium inflation continued, driving high search traffic in the quarter and fuelling high levels of switching in car and in home. Towards the end of the year, the ramp-up in car premium inflation started to stabilise.
· Money grew 4% in the quarter with continued growth in banking due to availability of attractive products. Borrowing also grew compared to Q4 2022 which saw a steep drop in conversion following the October 2022 mini budget.
· Home Services was down 6% with continued broadband softness in a competitive market. Mobile also softened in the quarter with less attractive provider propositions. As expected, there were no material revenue from energy switching.
· Revenue from Travel were up 9%, with growth in the fourth quarter slowing in a competitive market. Note that travel insurance is included within Insurance.
· Cashback revenue was up 1% despite continued headwinds from online retail. We had a strong performance over the Black Friday weekend with attractive promotions secured with merchants.
Recent performance and outlook
In the first few weeks of 2024, we have had similar trends to those seen at the end of Q4 2023 continue. We don’t expect any increase in energy switching revenue in 2024. We expect the comparatives in Insurance will become tougher, particularly as we move into the second half. However, our trading performance and momentum in our strategic execution, gives the Board confidence that Group EBITDA will be within the current market consensus range.
Results presentation
A presentation for investors and analysts will be available from 7am at http://corporate.moneysupermarket.com/Investors/results-centre.
A Q&A session will be held at 9.30am with Peter Duffy (CEO) and Niall McBride (CFO) accessed https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/ocyxn98w/
Notes: EBITDA is operating profit before depreciation and amortisation. Market expectations of EBITDA for 2024 from the analyst consensus on our investor website are in a range of £133.8m to £146.2m, with an average of £141.1m.
