The Rightmove Board is confident in their ability to deliver sustainable returns to shareholders and is recommending a final dividend of 4.5p per share for 2020 (2019: 4.4p cancelled). The final dividend will be paid, subject to shareholder approval, on 28 May 2021. The Board has also approved the resumption of our share buyback programme in March 2021, confirming the resilience of the Rightmove business model and a commitment to returning free cash to shareholders.
Other financial highlights include:
Revenue down 29%, reflecting the impact of the discount support offered to their customers for the period April to September 2020
Operating profit of £135.1m, down 37%, with operating margin of 66% (2019:74%)
Basic earnings per share 12.6p, down 36%
£30.1m (2019: £148.8m) of cash returned to shareholders through share buybacks in 2020, with the share buyback programme resuming in March 2021
Cash at the end of the period of £96.7m (31 December 2019: £36.3m)
