UPDATE 1-Moneysupermarket says loans market worsening
(Adds detail, analyst comment, share price)
LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - British price comparison Web site Moneysupermarket.com (MONY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday first-half results would meet expectations, but warned the deterioration in the mortgages and loans market was accelerating.
Trading conditions in the Money division, which contributes about half of revenues, "remained extremely challenging, especially in loans and mortgages, which on a monthly basis continued to worsen throughout the second quarter", it said in a statement.
Shares in the company, which floated at 170 pence a share last July in the biggest Internet IPO since Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) in 2004, fell 6 percent to 111-3/4 pence at 0842 GMT, as analysts said the severity of the slowdown could hit revenue growth.
UBS's Alex Hugh said he retained a cautious view on the company's near-term prospects in light of the trends in the Money division, and he cut his price target to 130 pence from 140 pence.
"2009 forecasts in Money are looking more and more like they need a change in the credit environment to be met," he said in a research note.
The company said revenues in the six months to end-June would be about 100 million pounds ($197.4 million), representing a proforma year-on-year increase of 25 percent.
UK margins are expected to be about 32 percent, broadly the same as the second half of last year, it said.
Strong growth in credit cards and savings had offset the slowdown in mortgages and loans, it said, and the Money division, which contributes about half of revenues, is expected to post high single digit growth year-on-year.
Motor insurance sales performed well in the face of increased competition from rival price comparison sites, it said, and would help revenues for the Insurance division increase by about 50 percent. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sue Thomas)
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