Rightmove profit grows as it doubles down on unpopular AI plans
Rightmove has reported growing profit and revenue as it stood by AI plans which had proved divisive with investors.
The UK’s top property portal reported profit before tax of £290m, up 12 per cent from last year, in its financial results for the year ended December 2025.
The FTSE-100 listed firm recently launched a conversational search tool with Google Cloud and is preparing to release an app in partnership with ChatGPT, but these plans wiped £1bn of its share price when announced in November.
But Rightmove is set to drop out of the blue-chip index after FTSE Russell, the global index provider which reviews the composition of the FTSE-100, warned the property firm and Easyjet are likely to be relegated.
The listing changes will be finalised on 3 March and announced the following day, with financial services group IG and logistics provider Tritax Big Box set to be promoted to the FTSE-100.
Revenue grew nine per cent to £425m as Rightmove announced a £90m share buyback programme and upped its dividend by eight per cent to 6.59 pence.
The report predicts stronger growth in the second half of 2026, with total revenue growth for the year forecasted at eight to ten per cent.
The results were rewarded in early trading on Friday, as Rightmove’s share price jumped up six per cent.
Rightmove doubles down on AI plans
The property firm recently launched a conversational search tool with Google Cloud and is preparing to release an app in partnership with ChatGPT.
The plans, announced in November, saw Rightmove pledge to invest £60m over three years but it slashed its short term profitability to reflect the cost of this investment.
The decision proved hotly unpopular with investors as a crash in Rightmove’s share price wiped £1bn off of its value.
But the property titan stood by its AI plans when announcing the financial results, with chief executive Johan Svanstrom saying the investment enabled the firm to “accelerate innovation and value generation”.
Rightmove reported its second-highest year of engagement and traffic growth on its property search platform, with 16.8bn minutes spent on the site – up two per cent on 2024.
The firm said its multi-year partnership with Google Cloud is allowing it to “lead digital innovation in the property ecosystem”.
Svanstrom, said: “These strong business results demonstrate the high quality and sustained usage of the Rightmove platform in all property market cycles.
“We create value as a leading digital enabler of the property market, delivering that value through the high quality and trusted foundations of our business, underpinned by proprietary data and ongoing product innovation.”
Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro, said: “Rightmove still owns the front door to Britain’s housing market, but lately that market has been on shaky ground.
“Despite another year of sturdy growth, Rightmove shares have taken a notable knock over the past six months, suggesting investors, while not questioning the quality of the business, are less comfortable with the price.”
But Crouch said: “Operationally, Rightmove remains an enviable machine [and] still prints cash with impressive reliability.”
£1bn lost in property fall-throughs
On Friday, Rightmove analysis warned property fall-throughs squandered over £900m of economic opportunity last year.
The six per cent of property transactions which fall through and fail to return to market within a year accounted for nearly £392m in potential estate agency revenue and £515m in possible government stamp duty receipts.
Rightmove has been calling on the government to use digital tech to streamline the house selling process and increase transparency.
Svanstrom said: “The home‑moving journey is still slowed down by many manual and fragmented processes. A seller shouldn’t need to list their home in April to move before Christmas.
“Our mission is to build the UK’s leading digital ecosystem for the entire moving experience, creating more opportunities for our estate agency partners and helping consumers move with greater confidence and speed.”