Funding scheme hits price website

The company said trading in most areas of the business continued to show good progress, although the savings channel has been “significantly impacted” as the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending scheme has reduced the need for banks and building societies to compete for retail deposits.

Moneysupermarket’s revenues rose 15 per cent to £204.8m last year, while pre-tax profits improved 30 per cent to £31.5m.

In a sector known for its memorable campaigns, including Go Compare’s opera singer and Compare the Market’s talking meerkats, the company said a 4 per cent rise in marketing behind its “You’re So Moneysupermarket” adverts helped it maintain its market leading position.

Chief executive Peter Plumb said January and February were good months for the company and that he expects another record year of results. He added: “The UK has caught the money saving bug. We helped customers save over £1bn in 2012 as households, faced with the uncertain outlook, sought savings on their bills.”

The company said MoneySavingExpert, which it bought for a total of £92.5m, had traded well since the site set up by personal finance journalist Martin Lewis was added in September.

Group revenues in insurance, home services, travel were higher in the second half of last year but flat in money as the weak savings market was offset by demand for loans, credit cards, pay day loans and mortgages.