Search for best energy deals lifts comparison site’s profits

Shares were up by nearly a fifth yesterday as the group said full-year underlying earnings would be a “mid-single digit percentage” ahead of the £78.4m currently expected in the City.

It said revenues for the third quarter had been 5 per cent ahead of the same period last year, but had raced ahead by more than 25 per cent in the first weeks of the fourth quarter.

“Revenues from energy switching in particular have been very strong as consumers sought better deals in the face of rapidly rising domestic fuel bills announced by the majority of the major providers,” the group said.

SSE, British Gas, Scottish Power and npower have hiked tariffs by an average 9 per cent this autumn at a time when households are facing an income squeeze.

Suppliers blame rising wholesale energy prices, network charges and government green levies.

Moneysupermarket chief executive Peter Plumb said: “We’re confident we can help every household make the most of their money and that means we are also confident of Moneysupermarket’s prospects.”

Trading in the third quarter was also boosted by an improved performance from credit card products due to strong competition among providers, while current account revenues were strengthened by the introduction of seven-day switching.

Performance from savings products was lower than last year as a government stimulus scheme to give banks access to cheap credit depressed interest rates.

Insurance was ahead, the company said, supported by a new TV advertising campaign launched in mid-August. Travel revenues also improved.

Trading had been hit earlier in the year after the group said Google changed “natural search algorithms” – pushing its website down the rankings in searches.

This had continued to impact trading in the third quarter, but it had made some progress recovering positions and was continuing to work on making further improvements.

Shares had fallen heavily earlier in the year as Moneysupermaket said sales growth stalled during July, but rallied strongly on the latest update.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Simon Davies said they had been “particularly weak” since the summer’s figures and upgraded the stock to “buy” after new forecasts.

The group also announced the appointment of Matthew Price, currently finance director at Costa Coffee, as its new chief financial officer to replace Paul Doughty. He is expected to start early next year.

Moneysupermarket.com reported full-year revenues of £204.8m last year.

The group is chaired by Gerald Corbett, the former chief executive of Railtrack.