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Rightmove

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FY2013 Annual Report · Rightmove
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Rightmove plc annual report 2013

Rightmove plc

Rightmove is the UK’s largest property portal.

Our aim is to be the place for all UK home hunters to find details  
of all properties available to buy or rent. Our platforms provide an 
easy to use but sophisticated online property search. With the 
depth of information that they provide, home hunters can 
immediately identify their preferred properties.
The service is directed at four key membership groups:
• estate agents
• lettings agents
• new homes developers
•  overseas homes agents offering properties outside the UK  
but interested in advertising to UK-based home hunters.

rightmove.co.uk is 
the UK’s number one 
property website

Contents

Strategic report

2  Highlights
3  Areas of focus

4  Chairman’s statement
6 

 Chief Executive’s review 

13   Financial review 
13   Key performance 

17   Principal risks and 
uncertainties

indicators

18   Corporate responsibility

Growing  
our brand
Page 8

Building 
relationships
Page 10

Investing in 
technology
Page 12

Governance 

Supporting  
our customers
Page 14

22  Board of directors 
24   Corporate governance 

33  Directors’ report
36   Statement of directors’ 

report

responsibilities

37   Directors’ remuneration 

63   Auditor’s report

report

Financial statements

66   Consolidated statement 
of comprehensive 
income 

67   Consolidated statement 
of financial position

68   Company statement of 
financial position 

69   Consolidated statement 

of cash flows

71   Consolidated statement 

of changes in 
shareholders’ equity
72   Company statement of 

73   Notes forming part  
of the financial 
statements
104  Advisers and 

70   Company statement of 

cash flows

changes in 
shareholders’ equity

shareholder information

1

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Highlights

•  Revenue increased by 17% to £139.9m (2012: £119.4m)
•  Underlying operating profit(1) increased by 19% to £104.0m (2012: £87.5m)
•  Underlying operating margin(1) increased to 74.3% (2012: 73.3%)
•  Basic earnings per share up 21% to 74.1p (2012: 61.3p)
•  Underlying basic earnings per share(2) up 23% to 81.0p (2012: 65.7p)
•  2.8m shares bought back during 2013 (2012: 4.5m) at a cost of £60.5m (2012: £66.4m)
•  Final dividend of 17.0p (2012: 14.0p) making a total dividend of 28.0p for the year  

(2012: 23.0p), up 22%

•  Number of advertisers(3) up 4% at 18,425 (2012: 17,680)
•  Average revenue per advertiser (ARPA)(3) up 15% to £607 per month (2012: £529 per month)
•  Site traffic up 27% to 14.0bn pages (2012: 11.0bn pages)
•  Generated 36.0m (2012: 21.2m) phone and email enquiries for our customers, up 70%

Revenue

Profit

Dividend

+17%

Revenue grew by  
£20.5m to £139.9m  
(2012: £119.4m)

+19%

Underlying operating  
profit(1) increased to  
£104.0m (2012: £87.5m)

+22%

Final dividend 17.0p  
(2012: 14.0p)
Total dividend 28.0p  
(2012: 23.0p)

2

www.rightmove.co.uk

(1)  Before share-based payments and NI on share-based incentives. 
(2)  Before share-based payments, NI on share-based incentives and no related adjustment for tax.
(3)  For Agency and New Homes customers.

 
 
 
Areas of focus

Growing our brand

Building relationships

Investing in technology

Supporting our customers

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Rightmove plc annual report 2013

3

 
 
Strategic report | Chairman’s statement

Scott Forbes  
Chairman

I am pleased to present Rightmove plc’s results for the year 
ended 31 December 2013.

Amidst rapid technological changes and a steadily 

improving housing market in many areas of the UK in 2013, 
Rightmove’s focus on providing the essential marketplace for 
home hunting has not wavered. This achievement is the result 
of the continuing evolution of our proposition, most recently 
for the increasingly mobile behaviour of home hunters, a 
continued focus on website design and functionality, 
innovative product development, and underpinned by steady 
and consistent investment in our brand over 14 years. 

Advertising on Rightmove enables customers to leverage 
our audience reach as our site continues to be ranked in the 
top ten most popular UK sites after global brands such as 
Google and Facebook. As the migration from print to online 
property advertising continues our customers can rely upon 
us to deliver brand building and property advertising products 
in a manner conducive to changing consumer needs while 
also investing in value added services for a more 
sophisticated home hunter. 

Demonstrating the reach of our website, page impressions 

increased 27% year on year from 11 billion in 2012 to a 
record 14 billion in 2013. Indicative of the effectiveness of our 
customers’ advertising spend, enquiries from home hunters 
increased 70% from over 21 million to 36 million in the same 
period. Rightmove’s commitment to providing more support 

for our customers through account management, seminars, 
market insight tools and other programmes continues to be 
an imperative as our customers compete in an ever evolving 
environment, including the rapid growth in mobile traffic  
which in the month of December 2013 exceeded 40% of  
total page impressions. We are committed to continued 
investment in technology and customer engagement to 
enable Rightmove to offer the best service for vendors, 
landlords and home hunters.

The Board and I would like to express our thanks to our 
18,000 customers and also to our employees whose efforts 
have positioned Rightmove as the place for home hunters to 
find their next home and for property advertisers to reach the 
widest possible audience by far.

Financial results
The strength of our business model and core value 
proposition underpin record financial results in 2013. 
Underlying operating profit(1) was up 19% to £104.0m  
(2012: £87.5m) driven by strong organic revenue growth  
of 17% coupled with continued careful cost management. 
Basic earnings per share (EPS) was up 21% to 74.1p  
(2012: 61.3p) and underlying EPS(2) was up 23% to 81.0p 
(2012: 65.7p). Cash conversion remains in excess of 100%  
of operating profit and as at 31 December 2013 the cash 
position was £6.8m (2012: £7.1m).

4

www.rightmove.co.ukShareholders were rewarded with 
capital appreciation in 2013 as 
our share price increased by 90%.

and Robyn Perriss as Finance Director. I am pleased to  
say that the transition was seamless and the results are 
testament to the management team’s outstanding efforts. 

We are delighted to welcome Peter Williams as a 

Non-Executive Director with effect from 3 February 2014.  
Peter has an extensive career comprising both non-executive 
and executive director positions for companies such as ASOS 
and Selfridges and currently Cineworld and Sportech.

Outlook
Many market observers have commented that the UK 
housing market is in the early stages of a cyclical recovery 
aided in part by government supported stimuli such as the 
Help to Buy and Funding for Lending schemes. Rightmove 
has flourished in the challenging markets of recent years.  
Our results for 2013 demonstrate that we are continuing to 
deliver in an improving market. The Board remains confident 
of continued success in 2014. 

Returns to shareholders
Our commitment to investors to return excess cash promptly 
continues to be as strong as ever. In 2013, we returned a 
further £85.6m (2012: £86.8m) to shareholders through 
dividends and share buybacks. This brings the total returned 
to shareholders since our flotation in March 2006 to £378.7m. 
Shareholders were further rewarded with capital appreciation 
in 2013 as the share price increased 90% from £14.36 to 
£27.40 at 31 December 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Dividend
The Board previously announced that it would increase the 
interim dividend to 11.0p (2012: 9.0p) per ordinary share, 
which was paid on 8 November 2013. Consistent with our 
policy of increasing the total dividend for the year broadly in 
line with underlying operating profits, the Board proposes to 
pay a final dividend of 17.0p (2012: 14.0p) per ordinary share 
giving a total dividend for the year of 28.0p (2012: 23.0p), an 
increase of 22%. The final dividend, subject to shareholder 
approval, will be paid on 6 June 2014 to shareholders on the 
register on 9 May 2014.

Board changes
At this time last year, we noted executive promotions  
of Nick McKittrick as Chief Executive Officer,  
Peter Brooks-Johnson as Chief Operating Officer  

Scott Forbes
Chairman

(1) Before share-based payments and NI on share-based incentives.
(2) Before share-based payments, NI on share-based incentives and no related adjustment for tax.

5

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Strategic report | Chief Executive’s review

Nick McKittrick  
Chief Executive Officer 

Rightmove has delivered another year of strong growth with 
record revenue and profits, driven by increased advertising 
spend by our customers on the UK’s number one property 
website, mobile and tablet platforms.

Our growth reflects the ongoing transformation to a digital 
property advertising market in the UK and is underpinned by 
the value we deliver to our customers by enabling them to 
reach the largest audience of UK home hunters.

Our audience has continued to grow and set new records in 
2013 through continued investment in our brand and technology 
and helped by an improving UK housing market. Visits to 
Rightmove across our desktop, mobile and tablet platforms 
grew strongly in the year resulting in 14 billion pages of property 
being viewed, up an impressive 27% on 2012.

We continue to be ranked in the top ten most popular 
websites in the UK alongside global brands such as Google, 
Facebook, YouTube, eBay and Amazon.

Average revenue per advertiser has continued to increase 
reflecting further adoption of our additional advertising products 
and packages and the effect of increases to our membership 
fees. Spending by our customers on additional products and 
packages is up 31% compared to the previous year.

We have also seen a 4% increase in the number of 
customers advertising on Rightmove during 2013, driven  

by a combination of new joiner incentives and new office 
openings as the UK housing market has started to improve.

Business model
Rightmove is by far the UK’s largest property portal. Our aim 
is to be the place for all UK home hunters to find details of all 
UK properties available to buy or rent. Our platforms provide 
an easy to use but sophisticated online property search.  
With the depth of information that they provide, home  
hunters can immediately identify their preferred properties.
Our customers are primarily estate agency and rentals  
offices, new homes developers and agents offering overseas 
properties to UK based home hunters. We operate a 
subscription model where each customer pays a monthly 
membership fee to advertise all of their properties. Rightmove 
also offers a range of advertising products to help our 
customers promote their properties, brand and proposition 
more strongly. Advertising products may be bought 
individually or as part of a package.

Our model benefits from a strong network effect with the 
growth of home hunters and property advertisers providing a 
‘virtuous circle’ enhancing the Rightmove value proposition.
Rightmove’s audience has grown every year and we now 

have around 10 million unique users, carrying out nearly  

The Rightmove network effect

6

www.rightmove.co.ukOur business modelHome hunters/audience growthAdvertisergrowthMorepropertyinventoryMoreleadsIncreasedvalueWe continue to be ranked in 
the top ten most popular 
websites in the UK.

200 million searches every month on more than 1 million 
properties. Over 90% of estate agents in the UK advertise 
their properties on Rightmove and in total we have over 
18,000 advertisers.

Our position, at the heart of home moving, has come from 

a focus on providing the best internet platforms for buyers, 
sellers, tenants and landlords backed by more than a decade 
of investment in our brand, infrastructure, product innovation 
and customer relationships. 

Our strategy 
The Rightmove business strategy focuses on organic growth 
through serving property advertisers seeking to reach the 
UK’s largest audience of home hunters. For our advertisers 
we offer the most effective brand exposure, the largest source 
of high quality enquiries and in the case of estate agents and 
rentals agents, form a valuable part of their own service 
offering to home sellers and landlords.

Our growth potential comes from the value embedded in 

our market leading audience and the opportunity afforded 
from the ongoing structural shift of property advertising  
spend from offline to online, furthering our ability to derive 
more value from our customers. There is also the potential  
for further opportunity afforded from a cyclical recovery in the 
UK housing market. 

In addition, our shareholders benefit from our clear and 
continued policy of promptly returning the cash generated  
by the business through a combination of dividends and 
share buybacks.

Strategy in action

Sustained investment in our brand 
Our strong brand recognition with the public and the simplicity 
of the core service we provide make Rightmove the public’s 
first choice to help them find their next home. Much of our 
success comes from the positive experience that home 
hunters have in using our services, in addition to our 
considerable investment in promoting the Rightmove brand.

We have continued to promote Rightmove in 2013 in order 
to further increase our audience reach for our customers with 
investment in TV advertising, search engine optimisation and 
targeted campaigns in London. We ran national TV 
campaigns during nine months of the year and into 2014.  
Our new TV campaign launched in the Spring, featuring 
Blondie’s soundtrack ‘Dreaming’, building on the theme of 
‘Britain moves at Rightmove’ and reflecting the fact that 
Rightmove is a place where people dream about where they 
want to live. 

7

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Investment and innovation in serving homemoversSupport and innovation for our advertisersFoundations of our successInvestment in our brandUK property advertising marketOrganic revenue growth from increased spend by our advertisersOur strategy:Growing  
our brand

200 taxis on the road in London 
promoting brand awareness.

Traffic to rightmove

 14 billion

pages of property viewed,  
up 27% year on year.

8

www.rightmove.co.ukStrategic report | Chief Executive’s review continued

Revenue 

Underlying operating profit(1)

Underlying basic EPS

119.4

97.0

81.6

64.5

150

120

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139.9

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60

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69.4

56.6

40.6

104.0

87.5

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Spending by our customers on 
additional products and packages  
is up 31% compared to last year.

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29.6

39.8

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50.3

81.0

65.7

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2009

2010

2011

2012

2012

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

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80

60

40

20

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2010

69.4

Underlying operating profit 
and margin

We continue to receive around four out of five visits to our 
website and mobile platforms from people typing in the 
Underlying operating profit 
‘Rightmove’ name, using our apps, responding to our email 
and margin
alerts, or using unpaid links from other sites. The remainder 
come mainly from organic search.
80

69.4

87.6

71.5

100

80

100

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40.6

41.2

73.3

56.6

69.4

62.9

Social media sites continue to be a successful way to 
57.8
promote Rightmove. ‘Likes’, ‘Shares’ and ‘Retweets’ extend 
60
the reach of the Rightmove brand generating over three 
40.6
40
quarters of a million visits every month from Facebook and 
20
Twitter. This interaction is promoted both by close integration 
0
on the Rightmove site itself and bespoke social media 
2011
campaigns such as the ‘My Dream Ho-Ho-Home’ Christmas 
competition which attracted nearly 200,000 entries.

2012

2008

2009

2008

2009

2010

62.9

41.2

57.8

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£

20

40

60

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69.4

56.6

71.5

69.4

73.3

87.6

To ensure our property information is the most accurate 
available we have increased the size of our data quality team  
in 2013. As a result of this and improved processes we have 
removed over 300,000 out of date properties from display.  
The next planned improvement will enable the immediate 
removal of properties that have been identified as ‘Sold’ upon 
being cross-referenced with the latest HM Land Registry data.
The property details on Rightmove have been refreshed 
with a cleaner design, larger images and full screen views for 
map and street view. In addition, we prototyped the concept 
of 360° images and continued to drive up the number of 
properties that have a floorplan as this is the most requested 
additional information by home hunters.

2011

2012

To continue to capture the growing mobile trend we 

Underlying operating profit and margin

Sustained investment and innovation in serving  
home movers 
We strive to be the best place for home hunting and browsing 
Revenue
and continue to invest more in our industry-leading desktop, 
mobile and tablet platforms to ensure we provide the most 
engaging experience for consumers. Our focus is on 
improving our easy to use search and the quality of property 
information we deliver so it is the most accurate, informative 
and up to date in the market. 

Margin 57.8

62.9

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2009

Our brand tracking shows that home hunters see us as the 
most up to date UK property resource on the internet. To drive 
2009
home this advantage we launched an automated facility that 
enables our customers’ newly marketed properties to be loaded 
to Rightmove in real-time via their CRM system. We will drive 
further adoption of this functionality in 2014 and complement  
it by introducing instant property alerts for consumers.

Underlying operating profit 
and margin

Underlying operating profit 
and margin
To cement our position as the most informative UK 
property resource, we have added data such as available 
broadband speeds and providers for every property, with 
80
this information viewed 275,000 times in December alone. 
60
We improved our schools information by adding nearby 
40
schools on our maps alongside information on rankings and 
Ofsted reports. We also launched mortgage calculators to 
20
coincide with the launch of the Government’s Help to Buy 
0
2009
scheme and related content to raise awareness and reduce 
confusion surrounding the schemes. 

2012

2011

2009

2008

2008

2010

2010

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70

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60

71.5

73.3

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Underlying basic EPS

launched a brand new mobile website in May and in 
September an app for the Windows Phone to complement  
our iPhone, iPad and Android apps. These developments have 
helped to drive rapid growth in our mobile and tablet traffic 
with activity more than doubling to nearly five billion pages.
By the end of 2013 nearly 40% of Rightmove’s monthly 
page impressions were being viewed on a smartphone or 
tablet. We will continue to invest in mobile and tablet 
30
development activity and early in 2014 our popular ‘Sold 
20
Prices’ functionality will start to feature on our mobile and 
10
0
tablet platforms. This unique functionality matches our 
catalogue of current and archived properties, containing over 
two billion property images, to the Land Registry sold prices. 
This functionality on our website has seen an increase in traffic 
of 60% in 2013.

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2011

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Underlying operating profit and margin
Sustained support and innovation for our advertisers
We care about our customers’ business success and focus  
on building strong relationships in order to support their 
ambitions. We’re spending more time with customers than 
ever before providing them with more support, insight and 
advice through our expanded and more highly trained and 
segmented account management team. We are committed to 
continual improvements to customer service and supporting 
2008
our customers with online tools and reports, marketing 
material and publications such as our House Price Index  
and Volume Two of our Little Blue Book of property trends. 

2012

2011

2012

2011

2009

2010

m
£

60

40

20

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Underlying operating profit 

Underlying operating margin

9

87.6

69.4

56.6

57.8

62.9

69.4

71.5

73.3

100

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41.2

40.6

100

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2008

2009

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2011

2012

2008

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2012

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Building 
relationships

We launched a mortgage calculator and  
related content to raise awareness of  
the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.

Housing market trends

The Rightmove  
House Price Index 
is a leading indicator of residential 
property asking prices in England  
and Wales.

10

www.rightmove.co.ukStrategic report | Chief Executive’s review continued

Revenue 

Underlying operating profit(1)

Underlying basic EPS

139.9

119.4

81.6

64.5

97.0

We launched a mortgage calculator and  

69.4

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56.6

related content to raise awareness of  

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the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.

£

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104.0

87.5

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100

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80

60

40

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65.7

50.3

29.6

39.8

81.0

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2009

2010

2011

2012

2012

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Underlying operating profit 

and margin

Underlying operating profit 

and margin

71.5

69.4

87.6

69.4

56.6

57.8

41.2

62.9

40.6

73.3

57.8

62.9

56.6

41.2

40.6

87.6

69.4

69.4

71.5

73.3

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Underlying operating profit and margin

Margin 57.8

62.9

69.4

71.5

73.3

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70

60

50

40

30

20

10
0

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Underlying operating profit 

and margin

Underlying operating profit 

and margin

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

100

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£

80

60

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150

120

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£

90

60

30

0

100

80

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Revenue

120

100

80

60

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2013 saw a 15% improvement in 
housing transactions recorded by 
HMRC, potentially marking the first 
steps on the road to recovery.

Current trading and outlook
The outlook for the UK online property advertising market 
continues to be positive as consumers and customers 
become ever more digital and could be boosted by a 
recovery in the housing market. After a five year period where 
housing transactions have been at unprecedentedly low 
levels, 2013 saw a 15% improvement in transactions 
recorded by HMRC, potentially marking the first steps on  
the road to recovery. 

Rightmove is well positioned to benefit from the continued 

growth in the UK online property advertising market through 
increased adoption of its additional advertising products, 
further product innovation, pricing and market-leading brand 
awareness. Activity on Rightmove has been strong at the 
start of 2014, with traffic across desktop, mobile and tablet 
platforms up over 15% in the first month of this year 
compared to last year and a record four million enquiries 
generated for our customers.

With traffic, customer numbers and average spend per 
advertiser ahead of 2013 levels, the Board remains confident 
of making further progress in growing the business organically 
in 2014 and beyond.

Over the past five years we have run free seminars for our 
customers across more than 100 locations in the UK reaching 
10,000 of our customers and their staff. This year was no 
exception as we ran another full programme of seminars from 
Exeter to Glasgow with more than 2,500 participants. We 
also introduced a dedicated Help to Buy seminar and a 
workshop element to our existing seminars giving our 
customers the opportunity to participate in interactive 
sessions on all our tools.

We believe our customers value this holistic partnership 
approach and we are proud that our customer satisfaction 
scores reflect this.

We continued to invest in our brand, technology and 
people in order to deliver more for our customers in 2013. 
With these investments and our audience breaking new 
records we have been able to deliver increased brand 
exposure for our customers and significantly more enquiries. 
Underlying basic EPS
In 2013 we rolled out local telephone numbers to replace 

over twenty thousand 0843 telephone numbers that home 
hunters used to contact agents. 0843 numbers are not 
typically included within mobile call packages and this led 
home hunters to try to find other telephone numbers to 
contact agents. This investment together with our increased 
audience has helped to double the number of Rightmove 
attributed phone enquiries for our customers in 2013. In total 
2008
we generated 36 million phone and email enquiries for our 
customers, up 70% on the previous year.

2009

2011

2012

2010

Underlying operating profit and margin

We have introduced more product innovation to help our 
customers promote their brands and properties and to give 
them the competitive edge they want. To that end, we have 
continued to launch mobile and tablet versions of our existing 
products which has enabled us to either provide more 
inventory of a product for our customers, or to extend  
the audience reach of a product.

Nick McKittrick
Chief Executive Officer

28 February 2014

We also launched Microsites for estate agents. This 
product allows for a much greater depth and breadth of 
information about the agent providing them with a way to 
significantly enhance their presence on Rightmove and to 
promote their service to potential vendors and landlords.  
2012
This can include testimonials, profiles of members of staff  
as well as properties recently sold or rented. So far, this 
product has been adopted by one in ten estate agents.

2011

2009

2010

2008

Underlying operating profit 

Underlying operating margin

11

87.6

69.4

56.6

57.8

62.9

69.4

71.5

73.3

41.2

40.6

100

80

60

40

20

0

s

n

o

i

l

l

i

m

£

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Investing in 
technology

In 2013 we launched a facility that 
enables our customers’ newly marketed 
properties to be loaded in real time.

Continued adoption of mobile

4.7 billion

pages of traffic via mobile  
and tablet devices.

12

www.rightmove.co.ukStrategic report | Financial review

Robyn Perriss  
Finance Director

Key performance indicators

Market share

Page impressions

Enquiries

 81%

of the market share of the top 3 UK 
property websites by pages viewed,  
1% down on 2012

Source: Experian Hitwise and Rightmove:  
December 2013 and December 2012

 14.0 billion

page impressions up 27% from  
11.0 billion in 2012

Source: Rightmove

36.0 million

36.0 million enquiries up 70% from  
21.2 million in 2012

Number of advertisers

Average revenue per advertiser

Properties displayed

 18,425

Agency and New Homes 
membership at end of 2013  
was 18,425 (2012: 17,680),  
up 4% year on year

£607

per month, up 15% (2012: £529)

 1.1million 

properties displayed on  
rightmove.co.uk at 31 December 
2013, unchanged from 2012

13

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
Supporting  
our customers

Through continual improvements to  
customer service, online tools and  
reports, marketing materials and  
publications such as our Little Blue  
Book of property trends. 

Geographic telephone numbers

20,000 numbers

were deployed during 2013  
helping to double phone  
enquiries for our customers.

14

www.rightmove.co.uk150

120

s

n

o

i

l

l

i

m

£

90

60

30

0

100

80

60

40

20

0

s

n

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i

l

l

i

m

£

Revenue

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

s

n

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i

l

l

i

m

£

100

80

60

40

20

0

s

n

o

i

l

l

i

m

£

Strategic report | Financial review continued

Revenue 

Underlying operating profit(1)

Underlying basic EPS

119.4

97.0

81.6

64.5

139.9

100

e
v
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m
t
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g
R

i

:
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80

60

40

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69.4

56.6

40.6

104.0

87.5

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60

40

20

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29.6

39.8

81.0

50.3

65.7

e
v
o
m
t
h
g
R

Rightmove continues to see  
strong cash generation with  
cash conversion in excess of  
100% of operating profit.

:
e
c
r
u
o
S

i

2009

2010

2011

2012

2012

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Underlying operating profit 

and margin

71.5

69.4

87.6

73.3

69.4

56.6

57.8

41.2

62.9

40.6

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

100

s
n
o

i
l
l
i

m
£

80

60

40

20

0

71.5

69.4

57.8

56.6

62.9

69.4

Revenue
Revenue reflected a healthy increase of 17%, up £20.5m to 
Underlying operating profit 
£139.9m (2012: £119.4m). Our Agency business was the 
and margin
largest contributor to the revenue growth with a year on year 
increase of £14.9m (2012: £15.0m). Whilst we experienced 
87.6
some growth in Agency customer numbers, the majority of 
the revenue increase has come from a combination of sales 
of additional advertising products and increases to core 
41.2
membership prices. Agency continues to be by far our largest 
business contributing 77% (2012: 77%) of our total revenue.
Revenue from our New Homes business grew by 17% to 
2012
£24.2m (2012: £20.6m) despite a 7% decline in the number 
of New Homes developments. Growth was driven by the sale 
of additional advertising products including email campaigns 
and by increases to core membership prices.

2011

2009

2008

2010

73.3

40.6

Margin 57.8

Other revenue across our data services, overseas, 
Underlying operating profit and margin
commercial and non-property advertising streams grew by 
£2.0m to £8.4m (2012: £6.4m), constituting 6% of our total 
revenue in the year. 

69.4

62.9

71.5

73.3

70

Underlying basic EPS

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Underlying operating profit 

and margin

100

s
n
o

i
l
l
i

m
£

80

60

40

20

0

100

s
n
o

i
l
l
i

m
£

80

60

40

20

0

60

50

e
r
a
h
s

y
r
a
n
d
r
o

i

40

30

20

2008

Margin growth
The underlying operating margin(1) for the year increased by 
1% to 74.3% (2012: 73.3%). This was driven by continued 
strong revenue growth coupled with a slightly lower 
percentage increase in underlying operating costs(1). 
2009
2008
Underlying operating costs(1) increased by £4.2m to £36.0m 
(2012: £31.8m) with over half of the increase relating to salary 
costs attributable to general wage inflation and an increased 
average headcount of 349 (2012: 325), up 7% reflecting 
Underlying operating profit 
investment in both sales and technical staff during the year. 
and margin

r
e
p
e
c
n
e
P

10
0

2011

2012

2009

2010

100

Taxation
The consolidated tax rate for the year ended 31 December 2013 
was 23.4% (2012: 24.8%). The effective tax rate was 
marginally higher than the enacted rate of 23.25% due to a 
reduction in the rate at which deferred tax is recognised and 
disallowable expenditure.

m
£

s
n
o

20

40

60

80

i
l
l
i

0

We are committed to being a responsible tax payer acting in a 
straightforward and open manner in all tax matters. The total 
tax payable in respect of 2013 was £73.5m (2012: £54.7m). 
£20.2m (2012: £21.1m) related to corporation tax and 
Employers National Insurance (NI) borne by the Group while 
the remaining £53.3m (2012: £33.6m) was collected in 
respect of payroll taxes and VAT. 

Due to an increase in the number of share-based incentives 

exercised and the related corporation tax relief this gives rise  
to, the cash tax payable was lower than the income statement 
charge of £22.7m in the year, however these exercises resulted 
in significantly higher payroll taxes being paid to HMRC.

Share-based payments and National Insurance
In accordance with IFRS 2, a non-cash charge of £2.4m 
(2012: £2.4m) is included in profit or loss representing the 
amortisation of the fair value of share-based incentives 
granted, including Sharesave options, since 2006.

NI is being accrued, where applicable, at a rate of 13.8% on 
the potential employee gain on share-based incentives granted. 
Based on the closing share price at 31 December 2013 of 
£27.40 in respect of the outstanding share-based incentives 
granted, together with the actual NI cost on share-based 
incentives exercised in the year, there is a charge of £4.5m 
(2012: £2.0m).
2011

2012

2010

Earnings per share (EPS)
Underlying basic EPS(2) increased by 23% to 81.0p  
(2012: 65.7p). Diluted EPS increased by 23% to 72.6p  
(2012: 59.2p). The strong growth in EPS was helped by  
our continued share buyback programme which reduced  
the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue to 
100.3m (2012: 102.0m).

Underlying operating profit and margin

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

(1) Before share-based payments and NI on share-based incentives. 
(2)  Before share-based payments, NI on share-based incentives and  

no related adjustment for tax.

Underlying operating profit 

Underlying operating margin

15

87.6

69.4

56.6

57.8

62.9

69.4

71.5

73.3

100

80

60

40

20

0

s

n

o

i

l

l

i

m

£

41.2

40.6

100

80

60

40

20

0

s

n

o

i

l

l

i

m

£

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Going concern
The Group entered into a 12 month agreement with  
HSBC Bank plc for a £10.0m committed revolving loan 
facility on 10 February 2014. To date no amount has been 
drawn under this facility.

The Board is confident that with the existing cash resources 
and banking facilities in place, coupled with the strength of the 
underlying business model, the Group and the Company will 
remain cash positive and will have adequate resources to 
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.
The Board’s priorities for the use of cash continue to be: 
investment in the business; payment of dividends; and the 
return of cash to shareholders via share buybacks. The Board 
believes that the future working capital and capital expenditure 
requirements of the business will continue to be low and that 
the business will be in a position to return surplus cash to 
shareholders during 2014 through a combination of dividends 
and share buybacks.

Robyn Perriss  
Finance Director

28 February 2014

Strategic report | Financial review continued

Balance sheet
Rightmove’s balance sheet at 31 December 2013 reflects 
total equity of £8.9m (2012: £7.5m) reflecting the continuing 
return of capital to shareholders in the form of dividends and 
share buybacks during the year.

In line with stronger revenue, trade receivables increased 
by 19% to £19.1m (2012: £16.0m). Trade and other payables 
increased by £1.3m to £25.0m (2012: £23.7m) principally due 
to an increase in deferred revenue. Our deferred tax asset, 
representing future tax benefits from share-based incentives, 
is lower at £5.6m (2012: £9.7m) due to a combination of 
share-based incentive exercises in the year and a reduction  
in the future tax rate from 23% to 20%.

Cash flow 
Rightmove continues to see strong cash generation reflecting the 
subscription nature of the business and the predictability of the 
cash flows coupled with low working capital requirements. Cash 
generated from operating activities was £99.2m (2012: £86.1m) 
representing an operating cash conversion in excess of 100%.
Tax payments increased to £16.1m (2012: £14.6m) and 
£0.1m (2012: £0.1m) was paid in relation to bank charges 
and facility fees resulting in net cash from operating activities 
of £83.0m (2012: £71.4m).

Capital expenditure was £1.1m (2012: £2.1m) reflecting 

expenditure on a new finance system and continued 
investment in our website infrastructure. We continue to 
charge development costs directly to the income statement.
Proceeds of £3.7m (2012: £3.0m) were received on the 

exercise of share-based incentives.

£60.5m (2012: £66.4m) was invested during 2013 in the 
repurchase of our own shares at an average price of £21.77 
(2012: £14.70) whilst a further £25.1m (2012: £20.4m) was paid 
in dividends reflecting the increased final dividend for 2012 and 
the 2p increase in the interim dividend this year. This brings the 
total returned to shareholders in the year to £85.6m and 
£378.7m since our flotation in March 2006.

The closing Group cash balance for this year was £6.8m 

(2012: £7.1m) with no debt in either year.

16

www.rightmove.co.ukStrategic report | Principal risks and uncertainties 

We recognise that the Group’s strategic objectives can only be achieved if potential risks are monitored and managed effectively 
by the Board. The risks set out below are those considered principal to delivering our strategy and are specific to the nature of 
our business, although there are other risks that may occur and impact the Group’s performance.

Description

Impact

Monitoring and mitigation

UK housing market downturn
•   Substantially fewer housing 

transactions than the norm may  
lead to a reduction in the number  
of agent branches or new homes 
developments

•   Reduction in the size of the UK 
property advertising market

Competition
•   Increased competition from  
existing or new entrants

Under-performance as the number of 
agents and new homes developments 
are a major determinant of Rightmove’s 
revenue

•   Monitoring of housing market leading 
indicators and trends in Rightmove 
membership

•   Rentals advertising is counter-cyclical 

and mitigates recessionary 
decreases in estate agency revenue
•   Cost reduction resulting from selling 

and servicing fewer customers

Under-performance and impact on 
Rightmove’s ability to grow revenue due 
to the potential loss of:
•  Audience
•  Advertisers
•   Demand for additional  
advertising products

•   Communication of the value of 

Rightmove membership to advertisers

•   Sustained marketing investment  

in the brand

•   Sustained investment and innovation 
in serving both home hunters and  
our advertisers



Change from 
prior year



New or disruptive technologies 
and changing consumer 
behaviours
•   Failure to innovate or adopt  

new technologies

•   Failure to adapt to changing 

consumer behaviour

Under-performance and impact on 
Rightmove’s ability to grow revenue due 
to the potential loss of:
•  Audience
•  Advertisers
•   Demand for additional  
advertising products

Cyber attack
•   Unavailability of the website and 

other platforms

•  Corruption or loss of key data

Reputational risk

Securing and retaining the  
right talent

The inability to recruit and retain 
talented people could impact our ability 
to maintain our financial performance 
and deliver growth
When key staff leave or retire, there is a 
risk that knowledge or competitive 
advantage is lost

 Increased risk   

 Decreased risk   

 Risk unchanged

•   Continual improvements to our 

platforms and product proposition
•   Significant and ongoing investment  

in mobile and tablet platforms

•   Large and skilled in-house technology 

team with culture of innovation 
•   Ongoing monitoring of consumer 

behaviour and annual ‘Hackathons’

•   Disaster Recovery Policy which is 

reviewed regularly

•   Use of three data centres to load 
balance and ensure optimal 
performance and business  
continuity capability

•   Regular backups of key data and 

denial of service testing 





•   Ongoing succession planning and 

development of future leaders
•  Payment of competitive rewards
•   Staff communication and 

engagement



17

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Strategic report | Corporate responsibility

Our people
Our people are our most highly valued asset; they are critical 
to our success and our growth. We are proud of our people 
and the mixture of talent and experience that they bring.  
We depend on their skills and commitment to achieve  
our objectives.

Our cultural style is open and honest. We invest in 
ensuring that all employees understand Rightmove’s core 
values and goals. We achieve this through a combination of a 
rigorous selection process, including technical skills testing, 
an off-site residential course to ensure all ‘Rightmovers’ 
understand our core values, ongoing coaching and 
mentoring, and cross-functional team building events 
involving all employees. We encourage employee involvement 
and place emphasis on keeping employees informed of the 
Group’s activities via bi-monthly staff forums and business 
performance updates with senior management and quarterly 
sales conferences.

We offer employees a range of additional benefits, which  
have proved to be a useful retention tool. Rightmovers are 
made aware of these benefits through our induction process 
and intranet. In 2013 we continued to communicate the 
importance of saving for retirement and promoting the 
stakeholder pension plan we established in 2008 as well as 
the option to save by salary exchange. 48% of employees are 
now members of the pension plan. We did this by holding 
employee seminars and offering the opportunity for one to 
one briefings with external benefits advisers. This year the 
seminars also contained information on auto enrolment,  
for those employees not yet in the pension plan.

We also offer private healthcare complemented by a  
cash back scheme. In November 2013, the Company’s fifth 
Sharesave contract matured allowing employees to benefit 
from the success of the Group over the last three years.  
Over 60% of our employees currently participate in the 
Sharesave Plan.

We continue to offer our Rightmover-led training academy, 

We offer flexible working arrangements, supporting  

designed to provide a structured means for employees to 
expand and diversify their skills and knowledge and explore 
new ways of working with one another. Given the specialised 
technical nature of the work we do and the services we 
provide, we also support ongoing external professional 
development where appropriate.

During 2013, our employee recognition scheme, which  

is voted on by fellow employees and is an opportunity to 
nominate colleagues who have shown outstanding 
performance or are high achievers, continued to gain 
momentum. Up to eight awards are presented every  
two months at our bi-monthly staff forums.

part-time working and reduced hours to allow our employees 
to balance their work and family commitments. 

During 2013 we upgraded our corporate website found  
at plc.rightmove.co.uk including the Careers section. In order 
to showcase Rightmove, we made a video of our people 
explaining what it is like to work at Rightmove, so anyone 
wishing to join can get a flavour of our unique culture.  
This, along with our updated Careers section has proved  
to be a great success and we have already started to recruit 
directly through the site.  

During the year we also ran an employee satisfaction 
survey, with 96% of respondents saying Rightmove is a great 
place to work and 93% of respondents saying they are proud 
to tell people they work for Rightmove. 

18

www.rightmove.co.ukEquality and diversity 
Rightmove has a strong commitment to equality of 
opportunity in all our employment policies, practices and 
procedures. We take a proactive approach throughout our 
recruitment and selection process to ensure that we attract, 
hire and retain a diverse and talented workforce and this is 
kept under close and regular scrutiny. No existing or potential 
employee will receive less favourable treatment due to their 
race, creed, nationality, colour, ethnic origin, age, religion or 
similar belief, connections with a national minority, sexual 
orientation, gender, gender reassignment, marital status, 
member or membership of a trade union, disability, or any 
other classification as prescribed by law.

We recognise that a diverse workforce will provide a wide 
array of perspectives that promotes innovation and business 
success and drawing on what is unique about individuals 
adds value to the way we do business and helps us anticipate 
and provide what our customers want from us. 

Our gender diversity throughout the group remains  
strong especially at the director level for the year ended  
31 December 2013. Out of three executive directors, one is 
female. Our female representation on the Board was 25% and 
is therefore aligned with the minimum target representation 
level to be achieved by 2015 as recommended by the  
Davies Review.

Having made substantial progress with gender diversity at 
Board level, the Board continues to focus on the next level of 
senior management in order to develop potential within this 
team to step up to Board level at the appropriate time and to 
identify and develop potential within the wider organisation 
with a view to strengthening the female representation within 
the senior management team. In 2013, 14% (2012: 13%) of 
our senior management team were female.  

A breakdown by gender of the number of persons who 

were directors of Rightmove, senior managers and other 
employees as at 31 December 2013, is set out below:

Human rights
Whilst Rightmove does not have a specific human rights 
policy, it does have policies such as Equal Opportunities and 
Anti-bribery that adhere to internationally proclaimed human 
rights principles. 

Charitable activity
We continue to encourage all our employees to devote time 
and fundraising efforts to charitable causes of particular 
importance to them as individuals. During 2013 many of  
our staff have been active in raising money or supporting 
fundraising activities across a wide range of charities for 
which Rightmove matched the donations raised. 

Our employees are also able to donate directly from  
their monthly salary to any charity or recognised good  
cause registered within the UK through the Charities Trust. 
This provides a tax efficient means of giving.

Environment
Rightmove actively considers its environmental impact and 
we are conscious of playing our part in tackling climate 
change. Traditional ways of finding a home tend to involve 
large amounts of paper and printing, whether in the form  
of newspaper advertising, property particulars mailed to 
applicants through the post or leaflet drops by agents. 
Rightmove reduces the need for print media and the 
environmental damage that goes with them. Rightmove 
takes care to design the layout of property particulars to 
reduce the total number of pages that need to be printed 
out in those cases where a home hunter does want a 
physical copy.

Enhanced information on properties also reduces the 
amount of time home hunters waste in visiting properties that 
rapidly turn out to be inappropriate. As a high proportion of 
viewings involve a car journey, any reduction in wasted 
viewings has an environmental benefit. Rightmove has 

Directors

Senior management

Other Rightmove employees

2

6

2

12

171

185

 Male     

 Female

 Male     

 Female

 Male     

 Female

19

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
Strategic report | Corporate responsibility continued

worked hard to increase the number and size of photographs 
of each property, improved the size and added functionality to 
property floorplans and has introduced more comprehensive 
map searches and aerial photographs which help home 
hunters to identify the specific location of a property. 
The higher the quality of the information presented about 
properties, the less carbon footprint is generated by 
prospective buyers making wasted journeys. 

The rightmove.co.uk website includes functionality for our 
customers to display Energy Performance Certificates which 
allow prospective buyers to evaluate the energy efficiency of  
a property they are considering buying and to identify 
opportunities to improve the energy efficiency once they  
have purchased the property.

As an internet-based Group with most staff employed in 

two office locations, we believe our own environmental 
footprint is small. We encourage our staff to take steps to 
address our environmental responsibilities. For instance,  
we continue to operate recycling schemes which were 
established in consultation with local authorities and recycling 
partners and when we moved to our new office in Milton 
Keynes, we removed all waste bins from desks, which 
encourages and increases the amount of recycling we do.  
We subsequently introduced this into the London office. 
As an operator of an online property portal, the main 

environmental impact is the power usage of our data centres. 
Our procurement policy is to purchase hardware with the 
best computational performance which uses the least 
electrical power. 

We encourage our employees to use alternatives to car 
travel, by promoting the use of public transport in particular 
when travelling between our two office locations and by 
encouraging participation in our Cycle to Work scheme. 

As an online business, our culture emphasises a paperless 
environment. We also recognise that our responsibilities do 
not stop just with how we operate internally – we encourage 
all our customers, business partners and suppliers not to 
unnecessarily print out emails sent by us in the signature of  
all our emails. We also continue to focus on streamlining 
processes and replacing paper-based services with online 
services and communications, wherever possible. Steps 
introduced in recent years include e-communications to 
shareholders, online customer membership forms and 
product documentation and email invoicing.

Greenhouse gas reporting
Since 1 October 2013, the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic 
Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013 has required 
all UK quoted companies to report on their greenhouse gas 
(GHG) emissions, which are classified as either direct or 
indirect and which are divided further into Scope 1, Scope 2 
and Scope 3 emissions.

Direct GHG emissions are emissions from sources that are 
owned or controlled by Rightmove. Indirect GHG emissions are 
emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the Group 
but that occur at sources owned or controlled by other entities. 

Scope 1 emissions: Direct emissions controlled by the 
Group arising from Company cars, which whilst leased,  
we are responsible for the emissions and therefore we  
report these under Scope 1.

Scope 2 emissions: Indirect emissions attributable to the 
Group due to its consumption of purchased electricity.

Scope 3 emissions: Other indirect emissions associated with 
activities that support or supply the Group’s operations, we 
include emissions arising from our third party run data centres.

20

www.rightmove.co.ukThe Group is required to report Scope 1 and 2 emissions for 
its reporting year to 31 December 2013. Scope 3 is not yet 
mandatory, however the Group has chosen to report  Scope 
3 emissions as it relates to electricity used in data centres,  
in which the Group rents out space to house and operate 
various servers, which host our website platforms. 

Rightmove emissions by scope

Emissions per employee(3)

Tonnes CO2e per employee 2013

Scope 1

Scope 2

Scope 3

Total

1.3

0.9

0.6

2.8

Scope

Source

Tonnes CO2e(1) 2013(2)

(3)  Based on 349 employees taken as the average number of employees in 

the Group throughout the year.  

Scope 1

Company cars

Scope 2

Electricity 

Scope 3

Outsourced – data centres

Total

461

330

202

993

(1)  UK emissions factors have been used for all data. All emission factors have 
been selected from the emissions conversion factors published annually by 
Defra. https://www.gov.uk/measuring-and-reporting-environmental-impacts-
guidance-for-businesses

(2)  As this is the first year of Mandatory GHG reporting, there is no comparative 

year reported. 

Emissions have also been calculated using an ‘intensity 
metric’, which will enable the Group to monitor how well we 
are controlling emissions on an annual basis, independent of 
fluctuations in the levels of their activity. As Rightmove is a 
‘people’ business, the most suitable metric is ‘Emissions per  
Employee’, based on the average number of employees 
during the year. The Group’s emissions per employee are 
shown in the table opposite.

Methodology 
We have reported on all of the emission sources required 
under the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and 
Directors’ Reports) Regulations 2013. We have used the 
GHG Protocol’s Operational Control consolidation method. 
We do not have responsibility for any emission sources that 
are not included in the above information. 

Health and safety
The Group considers the effective management of health  
and safety to be an integral part of managing its business. 
During 2013, we continued our fire safety, first aid and work 
place safety training. The Group’s ongoing policy on health 
and safety is to provide adequate control of the health and 
safety risks arising from work activities, through further 
consultation with, and training of, employees, the provision 
and maintenance of plant and equipment, safe handling and 
use of all substances and the prevention of accidents and 
causes of ill health.

21

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance I Board of directors

Scott Forbes
Chairman
Scott was appointed Chairman of 
Rightmove in 2005. He is non-executive 
director of Orbitz Worldwide, a NYSE 
listed online travel agency. He is also the 
Chief Executive of Bridge Capital Advisors 
Ltd, which he founded in 2007, and was  
a director of NetJets Management Ltd,  
a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway until 
October 2009. Scott has over 30 years’ 
experience in operations, finance and 
mergers and acquisitions including  
15 years at Cendant Corporation, which 
was formerly the largest worldwide 
provider of residential property services. 
Scott established the Cendant 
international headquarters in London  
in 1999 and led this division as Group 
Managing Director until he joined 
Rightmove. (Appointed 13 July 2005.)

Jonathan Agnew
Non-Executive Director
Jonathan joined the Board in 2006  
as Senior Independent Director. He is 
Chairman of The Cayenne Trust. 
Jonathan was an investment banker  
for over 25 years, including being 
Managing Director of Morgan Stanley 
and Group Chief Executive of Kleinwort 
Benson. He has been Chairman of 
Nationwide Building Society, Limit, 
Gerrard Group, LMS Capital, Beazley 
and Ashmore Global Opportunities and 
has served on the Council of Lloyd’s. 
(Appointed 16 January 2006.) (Chairman 
of the Remuneration Committee and a 
member of the Audit and Nomination 
Committees.)

22

Nick McKittrick
Chief Executive Officer 
Nick became Chief Executive Officer in 
April 2013 having been Chief Operating 
Officer since 2005 and additionally 
Finance Director since 2009. Nick is a 
co-founding executive, having joined 
Rightmove in 2000, and was 
responsible for launching the original 
website. His prior experience is in 
technology consulting with Accenture. 
(Appointed to the Board 5 March 2004.)

Ashley Martin
Non-Executive Director
Ashley joined Rightmove in 2009 as a 
non-executive director and also as 
Chairman of the Audit Committee, where 
he provides oversight of the financial 
reporting practices, internal control 
environment and compliance with the 
various listed company regulations.  
He is also a member of the Remuneration 
Committee. He qualified as a chartered 
accountant in 1981 and has a career in 
finance spanning 30 years. Ashley is 
currently Group Chief Financial Officer  
of The Engine Group, a private equity 
backed international marketing services 
group. He was previously Finance Director 
of Rok plc, the building services group, 
and Group Finance Director of the  
media services company, Tempus plc. 
(Appointed 11 June 2009.) (Chairman  
of the Audit Committee and member of 
the Remuneration Committee.)

Judy Vezmar
Non-Executive Director
Judy joined Rightmove in 2006 as a 
non-executive director. She was 
Chief Executive Officer of LexisNexis 
International until January 2014. 
LexisNexis®, part of the global media 
group Reed Elsevier PLC, is a leading 
worldwide provider of content-enabled 
workflow solutions, where Judy was 
responsible for the International Group 
and their expansion of the range of 
successful solutions including online 
services to over 100 countries. Judy  
is also a non-executive director of 
blinkx plc, an internet media company. 
(Appointed 16 January 2006.) (Member 
of the Audit, Remuneration and 
Nomination Committees.)

www.rightmove.co.uk 
Peter Brooks-Johnson
Chief Operating Officer
Peter joined Rightmove in 2006 and 
developed the Home Information 
Packs proposition. His focus 
subsequently shifted to the operation 
of the rightmove.co.uk website. He then 
went on to lead, from the beginning of 
2008, the estate agency business. 
Peter was promoted to the role of 
Managing Director of rightmove.co.uk 
on his appointment to the Board on 
10 January 2011 and Chief Operating 
Officer in April 2013. Prior to joining 
rightmove, Peter was a management 
consultant with Accenture and the 
Berkeley Partnership. (Appointed to 
the Board 10 January 2011.)

Robyn Perriss 
Finance Director and Company Secretary  
Robyn joined Rightmove in 2007 as 
Financial Controller with responsibility 
for day to day financial operations, was 
appointed Company Secretary in April 
2012 and promoted to the Board as 
Finance Director in April 2013. Robyn 
qualified as a chartered accountant in 
South Africa with KPMG and worked in 
both audit and transaction services. 
Prior to joining Rightmove, Robyn was 
Group Financial Controller at the online 
media business, Trader Media Group. 
(Appointed to the Board 30 April 2013.)

Colin Kemp
Non-Executive Director
Colin was appointed to the Board in 
2007. With over 30 years’ experience in 
high street retail banking, Colin has 
worked for Lloyds Banking Group 
companies since 1979. Between January 
2005 and December 2007, Colin was 
Managing Director of Halifax Estate 
Agencies Limited and is currently the 
Managing Director of Telephone Banking 
for the Lloyds Banking Group, Retail 
Business. Colin is a Cranfield MBA and 
an Associate of the Chartered Institute of 
Marketing. (Appointed 3 July 2007.)

Peter Williams
Non-Executive Director
Peter joined Rightmove in February 2014 
as a non-executive director. He is senior 
independent non-executive director of 
Sportech plc and non-executive director 
of Cineworld Group plc. Peter was 
previously senior independent director  
of ASOS plc, held non-executive director 
roles in the EMI group, Blacks Leisure 
Group plc, JJB Sports plc, GCap Media 
plc and Capital Radio Group plc. In his 
executive career, he was Chief Executive 
at Alpha Group plc and prior to that, 
Chief Executive of Selfridges plc 
where he also acted as Chief Financial 
Officer for over ten years. (Appointed 
3 February 2014.)

23

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Corporate governance report

Statement of compliance
The UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) sets out the 
principles and provisions relating to good governance of UK 
listed companies. In this section we set out how we have 
applied the principles and complied with the provisions of the 
2010 and 2012 Codes during 2013. As a UK listed company, 
the Company is required to state whether it has complied with 
the provisions of the Code and where the provisions have not 
been complied with, to provide an explanation. 

The directors believe that the Company has been 
compliant with the Code provisions throughout the year 
ended 31 December 2013.

The Board, the Board balance and independence
The Board at the date of this report comprises three executive 
directors and six non-executive directors, including the 
Chairman. The three executive directors are Nick McKittrick, 
Chief Executive Officer, Peter Brooks-Johnson, Chief Operating 
Officer and Robyn Perriss, Finance Director. The non-executive 
directors are Scott Forbes, Chairman, Jonathan Agnew, Senior 
Independent Director, Colin Kemp, Ashley Martin, Judy Vezmar 
and Peter Williams. With the exception of Robyn Perriss, who 
was appointed to the Board on 30 April 2013 and Peter Williams 
who was appointed to the Board on 3 February 2014, all 
directors served throughout the year.

Ed Williams retired from the Board on 30 April 2013. As 
part of the announced organisational changes Nick McKittrick 
became Chief Executive Officer, Peter Brooks-Johnson 
became Chief Operating Officer and Robyn Perriss joined the 
Board as Finance Director. For her appointment the Board 
undertook a formal appointment process led by the 
Nomination Committee.

The Board has due regard for the benefits of diversity in its 

membership, including gender, and strives to maintain the 
right balance. As at 31 December 2013, 25% (2012: 12.5%) 
of Rightmove Board members were female and the Board 
was therefore aligned with the minimum target representation 
level to be achieved by 2015, as recommended by the  
Davies Review.

The directors believe that the Board currently operates 
effectively and that there is an appropriate balance between 
the executive (37%) and non-executive directors (63%) and 
that all the non-executive directors are fully independent of 
management and independent in character and judgement. 
Consideration of the Board balance is kept under regular 
review by the Nomination Committee.

Neither the Chairman nor the executive directors hold  

any other non-executive directorships or commitments 
disclosable under the Code.

Biographical details of the directors at the date of this 

report appear on pages 22 to 23 and details of their 
committee membership appear on page 25.

Board tenure as at  
31 December 2013

Balance of directors as at  
31 December 2013

5

2

6

1

4

3

1

0-3 years   

3-6 years   

6-9 years

Executive 
directors

Chairman

Non-
executive 
directors

Directors’ remuneration
The principles and details of directors’ remuneration and 
contractual arrangements are contained in the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report on pages 37 to 62.

Re-election to the Board
Directors are appointed and may be removed in accordance 
with the Articles of Association of the Company and the 
provisions of the Companies Act 2006. All directors are 
subject to election at the first Annual General Meeting 
following their appointment and to re-election at intervals of 
no more than three years in accordance with the Company’s 
Articles of Association. However, following changes to the 
Code, all directors will seek re-election at the 2014 Annual 
General Meeting, in accordance with the Code provision B.7.1.

24

www.rightmove.co.uk  
 
  
  
  
  
Our governance framework 

Chairman

The Board of Rightmove plc

Executive Committee

Remuneration Committee

Nomination Committee

Audit Committee

Senior management

External auditors

Board and Committee membership and attendance
The membership of the Committees of the Board and 
attendance at Board and Committee meetings for the year 
under review are set out in the table below:

Board

Remuneration 
Committee

Audit 
Committee

Nomination 
Committee

Total meetings

Scott Forbes 

Nick McKittrick

Peter Brooks-
Johnson

9

9

9

9

Robyn Perriss

6(2) 

Jonathan Agnew

Colin Kemp 

Ashley Martin

Judy Vezmar 

9

9

9

9

8

7(1) 

N/A

N/A

N/A

8

5(3)

8

8

5

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

5

3(4)

5

5

3

3

N/A

N/A

N/A

3

2(3)

1(5)

3

Ed Williams 

3(6)

N/A

N/A

N/A

(1)   The Remuneration Committee Chairman has requested that the  

Chairman of the Board attend the Remuneration Committee meetings.
(2)   Robyn Perriss was appointed to the Board on 30 April 2013 and has 

attended all Board meetings post her appointment.

(3)   Colin Kemp was appointed to the Remuneration and Nomination 
Committees in March 2013 and has attended all meetings post  
his appointment.

(4)   Colin Kemp was invited to attend Audit Committee meetings on a guest basis.
(5)   Ashley Martin was invited to attend one Nomination Committee meeting on 

a guest basis.

(6)  Ed Williams resigned with effect from 30 April 2013.

Any director’s absence from Board meetings or meetings of 
the Remuneration, Audit or Nomination Committees was 
previously agreed with the Chairman, the Chief Executive 
Officer or the Chairman of the relevant committee.

In addition to the above meetings, the Chairman conducts 

meetings with the non-executive directors without the 
executive directors being present when required. Jonathan 
Agnew, the Senior Independent Director, chaired a meeting  
of the Board at which the performance of the Chairman was 
also reviewed (without the presence of the Chairman).

Operation of the Board
The Board is responsible to shareholders for the overall 
direction and control of the Group and has the powers and 
duties set out in the relevant laws of England and Wales and 
the Company’s Articles of Association. The Board is:
•  responsible for approving the Group strategy and ensuring 
the successful implementation of projects and proposals;

•  monitoring the operating performance of the Group in 
pursuit of its objectives in the interest of maximising  
long-term shareholder value;

•  accountable to shareholders for the proper conduct of the 

business; and

•  responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of and reporting 

on our system of corporate governance.

The Board has adopted a formal schedule of matters 
requiring specific approval. These include:
• the approval of the annual business plan; 
• review of Group strategy;
• changes to the Group’s capital structure; 
• approval of the dividend policy;
• acquisitions and disposals;
• appointment and removal of officers of the Company; 
•  approval of annual and half-year results and shareholder 

communications; and

•  system of internal control and risk management.

25

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Corporate governance report continued

In addition to its formal business, the Board received a 
number of briefings and presentations from senior 
management during the year covering a wide range of 
topics across the range of the Group’s businesses.

The Board normally schedules eight meetings each year 
although meetings can be scheduled at short notice at the 
request of any director, if required. In addition to formal Board 
meetings, there is regular informal dialogue between all directors.
The Board receives meeting papers to allow sufficient time 

for detailed review and consideration of the documents 
beforehand. If any director has a concern about any aspect of 
the business conducted at any Board meeting, the Company 
Secretary shall discuss this with the director concerned and 
record their concern or comments in the Board minutes. The 
Board receives monthly management and financial reports on 
the operational and financial performance of the business 
setting out actual and forecast financial performance against 
approved budgets in addition to other key performance 
indicators. The Board also receives copies of broker reports 
and press releases relating to the Group. 

Key roles and responsibilities
The posts of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer are 
separate and there are clear written guidelines to support 
their division of responsibilities.
The Chairman, Scott Forbes, is responsible for:
• the leadership and governance of the Board;
• ensuring effectiveness of the Board;
• effective communication with shareholders; and
•  with the assistance of the Company Secretary, setting  
the Board’s agenda and ensuring that adequate time is 
available for discussions and that the Board receives 
sufficient, pertinent, timely and clear information.

The Chief Executive Officer, Nick McKittrick, is responsible for:
• the management of the Group’s business;
•  leading the executive and operational teams in developing 
strategies and delivering results against defined targets to 
enable the Group to meet its objectives;

•  maintaining a close working relationship with the Chairman; 

and

• chairing the Executive Committee.

The Senior Independent Director, Jonathan Agnew, is 
responsible for:
• acting as a sounding board for the Chairman;
• deputising for the Chairman if required;
• serving as an intermediary for other directors;
•  being available to shareholders if they have concerns which they 
have not been able to resolve through the normal channels of 
the Chairman and Chief Executive or other executive directors 
for which such contact is inappropriate; and

•  conducting an annual review of the performance of the 

Chairman and, in the event it should be necessary, 
convening a meeting of the non-executive directors.

The Company Secretary, Robyn Perriss, is responsible for:
•  assisting the Chairman in ensuring that all the directors have 

full and timely access to relevant information;

•  assists the Chairman by organising induction and training 

programmes;

•  ensuring that the correct Board procedures are followed and 
advises the Board on corporate governance matters; and
•  administers the process whereby directors have access to 

independent advice on any matters relating to their 
responsibilities as directors and as members of the various 
committees of the Board at the Company’s expense.

26

www.rightmove.co.ukThe duties of the Company Secretary continue to grow with 
the increase in size of the Group’s activities and legislative 
changes. To assist in this area the Assistant Company 
Secretary coordinates and manages the provision of 
company secretarial services and share plans to the  
Group on behalf of Robyn Perriss and acts as Secretary  
to the Board, Remuneration and Nomination Committees  
to ensure that no conflicts of interest arise.

Board training
The breadth of management, financial and listed company 
experience of the non-executive directors is described in the 
biographical details on pages 22 and 23 and demonstrates a 
range of business expertise that provides the right mix of  
skills and experience given the size of the Group. There are 
procedures in place for individual Board members to receive 
induction and training tailored to their individual needs and to 
seek the advice and services of independent professional 
advisers, at the Group’s expense, where specific expertise or 
training is required in furtherance of their duties. 

Indemnification of directors
The Articles of Association of the Company allow for a 
qualifying third party indemnity provision between the 
Company and its directors and officers, which remains in 
force at the date of this report. The Group has also arranged 
directors’ and officers’ insurance cover in respect of legal 
action against the directors. Neither our indemnity nor the 
insurance provides cover in the event that a director is proven 
to have acted dishonestly or fraudulently.

The Group has written policies in compliance with an 
internal code of securities dealings in relation to the process 
and timing for dealing in shares, which is equivalent to the 
Model Code published in the Listing Rules. The code applies 
to all directors, other persons discharging managerial 
responsibility and other relevant employees.

Board evaluation
The Board is committed to undertaking annual reviews of its 
own performance and also the performance of its committees 
and individual directors. Last year an externally facilitated 
review of the performance of the Board and its committees 
was undertaken by Korn Ferry International.

For the year under review the Board conducted an internal 
evaluation of its own performance and that of its committees 
and individual directors led by the Chairman and assisted by 
the Assistant Company Secretary. Board members were 
invited to comment by exception and the feedback received 
was discussed by the Board together during the meeting held 
in November 2013. The Board considers that review shows 
that each director continues to contribute effectively and 
demonstrate commitment to the role with good working 
relationships and in particular a smooth transition by the 
executive directors to their new roles. No major areas were 
highlighted within this review process but the Board intends 
to continue to develop themes on:
• 

 non-executive director succession (as further discussed 
on page 29; and
 creating additional opportunities for informal discussion  
of key aspects of the business between Board members.

• 

Relations with shareholders
The Board is accountable to shareholders for the 
performance and activities of the Company and welcomes 
the opportunities to engage with shareholders.

Within the terms of the regulatory framework, the 

Company has conducted regular dialogue with institutional 
shareholders through ongoing meetings with institutional 
investors and research firms to discuss strategy, operating 
performance and financial performance. Contact in the UK  
is principally with the Chief Executive Officer and the Finance 
Director. The Chairman also participates in the USA investor 
roadshows. Jonathan Agnew, Senior Independent Director,  
is also available to shareholders if they wish to supplement 
their communication, or if contact through the normal 
channels is inappropriate.

27

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Corporate governance report continued

The Board is kept informed of the views and opinions of those 
with an interest in the Company through reports from the Chief 
Executive Officer and the Finance Director, as well as reports 
from the Company’s joint brokers, UBS and Numis.

Shareholders are also kept up to date with the Group’s 
activities through the Annual and Half Year Reports and the 
investor relations section of its website, at plc.rightmove.co.uk, 
which provides details of all the directors, latest news, 
including financial results, investor presentations and Stock 
Exchange announcements. 

Conflicts of interest
In cases of doubt, the Chairman of the Board is responsible  
for determining whether a conflict of interest exists. 

Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting is an opportunity for  
shareholders to vote on certain aspects of the Company’s 
business, and to ask questions of the directors, who will also 
be available for discussions with shareholders prior to and 
after the meeting. The Annual General Meeting will be held  
on 7 May 2014 at the offices of UBS Limited at 1 Finsbury 
Avenue, London, EC2M 2PP.

The Company will arrange for the Annual Report and related 

papers to be available on the Company’s corporate website 
at plc.rightmove.co.uk or posted to shareholders (where 
requested) so as to allow at least 20 working days for 
consideration before the Annual General Meeting. 

The Company also complies with the Code with the 
separation of all resolutions put to the vote of shareholders. 
The Company proactively encourages shareholders to vote at 
general meetings by providing electronic voting for 
shareholders who hold their shares through the Crest system 
and provides personalised proxy cards to ensure that all votes 
are clearly identifiable. The Company presently takes votes  
at general meetings on a show of hands on the grounds of 
practicality due to the limited number of shareholders in 
attendance. Votes are taken by a poll at any shareholder 
meeting where legally required. All proxy votes are counted 
and the level of proxy votes including abstentions lodged for 
each resolution are reported after each resolution and 
published on the Company’s website.

Board committees
The Board has established three principal committees, the 
Audit Committee, the Remuneration Committee and the 
Nomination Committee to assist it in the execution of  
its duties.

All of these committees operate within written terms of 

reference, which are reviewed annually, consistent with 
changes in legislation and best practice. The Chairman  
of each Committee reports regularly to the Board.

Each of the Committees is authorised, at the Company’s 
expense, to obtain legal or other professional advice to assist in 
carrying out its duties. No person other than a Committee 
member is entitled to attend the meetings of these Committees, 
except by invitation of the Chairman of that Committee. 

Current membership of the Committees is shown on  
page 25. The composition of these Committees is reviewed 
regularly, taking into consideration the recommendations of 
the Nomination Committee. 

Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee’s principal responsibility is  
for setting, reviewing and recommending to the Board  
the remuneration policy and strategy to ensure that the 
Company’s executive directors and senior management are 
properly incentivised and fairly rewarded for their individual 
contributions to the Company’s overall performance, having 
due regard to the interests of the shareholders and to the 
financial and commercial health of the Group. Full details of 
the Remuneration Committee’s responsibilities, and a report 
of its activities during the year, are set out in the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report on pages 37 to 62.

Nomination Committee
The purpose of the Nomination Committee is to consider  
and make recommendations to the Board about the 
composition of the Board, including proposed appointees, 
and whether to fill any vacancies that arise or to change  
the number of Board members.

The Nomination Committee consists of Scott Forbes  

(who is also Chairman of the Board), Jonathan Agnew,  
Judy Vezmar and Colin Kemp as independent non-executive 
directors. The quorum for meetings of the Nomination 
Committee is two members. The Chairman of the Company 

28

www.rightmove.co.ukmay not chair the Nomination Committee in connection with 
any discussion about the appointment of his successor to the 
chairmanship of the Company. In these circumstances, the 
Senior Independent Director will take the chair. Appointments 
are for a period of up to three years, extendable by no more 
than two additional three year periods, so long as members 
continue to be independent.

The Nomination Committee meets at such times as may 

be necessary and normally meets at least twice a year. 
The Nomination Committee’s terms of reference are 

available on the Company’s corporate website,  
plc.rightmove.co.uk or by request from the Company Secretary.

During the year the Nomination Committee has:
• approved the organisation structure;
•  approved the plans for the succession of the executive 

directors and senior management; 

• agreed the process for the Board’s annual evaluation;
•  considered the diversity of the Board and agreed the  

policy regarding gender composition on the Board; and

• conducted an annual review of its terms of reference. 

The Nomination Committee is planning for Board 

succession, in response to the fact that the Chairman and 
three of the non-executive directors are currently in their  
third term of service to the Board. Following Phase 2 of the 
independent Board evaluation conducted in 2012, a plan was 
implemented to ensure that any new appointments are tiered 
such that succession does not cause disruption to the 
business. To this extent Korn Ferry International, an executive 
search firm, which conducted the 2012 external Board 
evaluation, commenced a search for two new non-executive 
directors; one with digital media and mobile experience and 
the other with significant plc board experience, to ensure that 
the refreshment process is flexible and fluid and maintains 
stability and continuity of relevant skills and experience. 

In February 2014, we appointed Peter Williams to the 

Board as a non-executive director, who brings with him 
significant plc executive and non-executive experience.  

Audit Committee

Ashley Martin
Chairman of the Audit Committee
The Audit Committee (the Committee) is an essential part of 
Rightmove’s governance framework to which the Board has 
delegated oversight of the Group’s financial reporting, internal 
controls and compliance and the quality of the external audit 
process. The Committee also regularly reviews and considers 
the requirement for an internal audit function within the Group. 
As part of the process of working with the Board and to 
maximise effectiveness, meetings of the Committee generally 
take place just prior to the Company Board meetings and I 
report to the Board as a separate agenda item on the activities 
of the Committee and matters of particular relevance to the 
Board in the conduct of their work.

Amongst our normal activities, the key focus of the 

Committee over the last year has been the audit tender and 
the implementation of a new financial reporting system. 

This report provides an overview of the work of the Committee 

and details how it has discharged its duties during the year.

Ashley Martin
Chairman of the Audit Committee

29

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Corporate governance report continued

Composition and attendance at meetings

Committee members

Number of meetings attended

Ashley Martin 

Judy Vezmar

Jonathan Agnew

5 out of 5

5 out of 5

5 out of 5

The Committee is comprised entirely of independent  
non-executive directors, the biographical details which can be 
found on pages 22 to 23. The Board is satisfied that Ashley 
Martin has recent and relevant financial skills and experience 
necessary to fulfill his role as Chairman of the Committee.

The Finance Director and Financial Controller are normally 
invited to attend the meetings as well as the external auditor, 
KPMG Audit Plc (KPMG). Other relevant people from the 
business are also invited to attend certain meetings in order  
to provide a deeper level of insight into certain key issues and 
developments. During the year Colin Kemp, non-executive 
director, attended three meetings by invitation. The Committee 
regularly meets separately with the external auditors and the 
Finance Director without others being present.

The quorum for meetings of the Committee is two 

members. Appointments to the Committee are for a period 
of up to three years, extendable by no more than two 
additional three year periods, so long as members continue 
to be independent.

The Audit Committee’s principal duties and terms of  
reference are available on the Company’s corporate website,  
plc.rightmove.co.uk, or by request from the Company Secretary.

Audit tender
KPMG has been the Group’s auditors since 2000. Following 
the 2012 revision of the UK Corporate Governance Code by 
the Financial Reporting Council, a decision was made by  
the Committee to formally tender the provision of audit and 
taxation services to the Group. A comprehensive tender  
and review process was concluded in March 2013. The 
Committee was satisfied that the skills and depth of industry 
knowledge in the team remained very strong and combined 
with the fresh perspective of the new audit partner decided 
that KPMG should be re-appointed as the Group’s auditor. 

The external auditor is required to rotate the audit partner 
responsible for the Group audit every five years. The current 
lead audit partner has been in place for one year.

Main activities of the Committee during the year
The principal activities of the Audit Committee through the 
year, and the manner in which it discharged its responsibilities 
were as follows:

Financial reporting
The primary role of the Committee in relation to financial reporting 
is to review with both management and the external auditor the 
appropriateness of the half year results statement and the annual 
report and financial statements including, amongst other matters:
•  the quality and appropriateness of accounting policies  

and practices;

•  the clarity of the disclosures and compliance with relevant 
financial reporting standards and governance reporting 
requirements;

•  key accounting issues or matters in which significant 

judgements have been applied; and

•  whether the annual report and accounts taken as a whole is 

fair, balanced and understandable and provide the information 
necessary for shareholders to assess the Group’s 
performance, business model and strategy. 

Following the publication of the revised version of the UK 
Corporate Governance Code, which is applicable for financial 
years commencing on or after 1 October 2012, the Board 
requested that the Committee advise them on whether the 
annual report and accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, 
balanced and understandable and provides the information 
necessary for shareholders to assess the Group’s 
performance, business model and strategy.

The significant areas of judgement considered by the 
Committee in relation to the 2013 Annual Report and how 
these were addressed were:

Revenue recognition
The timing of revenue recognition in relation to the billing of 
subscription fees and additional products and the accounting 
for any membership offers to customers with discounted or 
free periods. This was a prime area of audit focus with KPMG 
performing detailed analytical procedures using computer 
assisted audit techniques throughout the year on amounts 
billed to the two largest customer groups (estate agency and 
new homes developers), investigating any anomalies and 
outliers identified and providing detailed reporting to the 
Committee in this regard. 

In addition the Committee received a report from 

management discussing current membership offers and their 
impact on revenue recognition. 

30

www.rightmove.co.ukShare-based incentives and the related deferred  
tax balances
It is the responsibility of the Remuneration Committee to 
address, and report upon, compensation matters including 
share-based incentives granted to directors and employees 
of the Group. However the Committee considers in its review 
of the financial statements the measurement and accounting 
treatment relating to such schemes as more fully explained in 
Note 24 to the accounts due to the technical complexity and 
judgement required in establishing the IFRS 2 charge. 
Schemes subject to external performance conditions were 
valued using the Monte Carlo model by the Company’s 
remuneration advisors, New Bridge Street, an Aon Hewitt 
Company. They also provided an external source of key 
inputs used to calculate the initial fair value of new grants, 
such as volatility, dividend yield and risk free rates and key 
management assumptions such as leaver provisions and 
achievement of performance conditions were reviewed and 
discussed by the Committee. 

The assumptions used in calculating the closing  
deferred tax asset were reviewed and the reasons for the 
decrease discussed and the financial disclosures reviewed  
by the Committee. 

As these are both areas of higher audit risk the Committee 

also received detailed verbal and written reporting from 
KPMG on this matter.

Internal audit
Given the simplicity of the Group structure, its single country 
focus, the open and accountable culture with clear authority 
limits, the straightforward financial model, strong system of 
internal controls, the fact that management and the Board 
conduct regular financial reviews and that the likely costs 
would be disproportionate to the anticipated benefit, the 
Committee recommended to the Board that an internal  
audit function was not currently appropriate for the business. 
This decision will be kept under regular review and where 
appropriate extended assurance will also be sought in key 
areas, as set out below for 2013. 

External audit
The effectiveness of the external audit process is dependent 
on a number of factors including the quality assurance 
processes within the audit firm and appropriate audit risk 
identification at the start of the audit cycle. The Committee has 
reviewed, through the 2013 audit tender process, the quality 
assurance procedures and the skills and expertise of the audit 
team and are satisfied that these continue to be of a high 
standard. In connection with risk evaluation KPMG submitted 

a detailed audit plan, identifying their assessment of key risks. 
For the 2013 financial year the primary risks identified were in 
relation to revenue recognition due to the size of the customer 
base and the variety of contract terms and share-based 
incentives and the related deferred tax balances due to the 
technical complexity and inherent management judgement 
required in these areas. The Committee challenged the work 
performed by the external auditors to test management’s 
assumptions and estimates around these areas. The 
Committee also assessed the effectiveness of the audit 
process in addressing these matters through the reporting it 
received from the auditors at both the half year and year end. 
In addition they also sought feedback from management on 
the effectiveness of the audit process. For the 2013 financial 
year, management were satisfied that there had been 
appropriate focus and challenge on the primary areas of audit 
risk and the Committee concurred with this view.

The Committee also discussed its responsibilities to 
safeguard audit objectivity and independence as well as the 
needs of the business and agreed that it was practical in 
many cases for the auditor to be assigned to other non-audit 
project work due to their knowledge and expertise of the 
business. This would usually relate to corporate transaction 
advice and tax compliance. The Committee agreed a policy 
that management be given authority to incur non-audit fees 
up to 50% of the annual agreed audit and tax fee in any 
financial year without the prior approval of the Committee. 
In 2013 the non-audit fees were £22,000 in relation to other 
advisory services and were £12,000 in relation to tax 
compliance and advice and are fully disclosed in Note 6  
of the financial statements.

Internal controls 
The Board has overall responsibility for the Group’s system of 
internal controls and has established a framework of financial 
and other controls which is periodically reviewed in 
accordance with the FRC Internal Control: Guidance to 
Directors publication (formerly known as the Turnbull 
Guidance) for its effectiveness.

The Board has taken, and will continue to take, 

appropriate measures to ensure that the chances of financial 
irregularities occurring are reduced as far as reasonably 
possible by improving the quality of information at all levels in 
the Group, fostering an open environment and ensuring that 
the financial analysis is rigorously applied. Any system of 
internal control is designed to manage rather than eliminate 
the risk of failure to achieve business objectives and can only 
provide reasonable and not absolute assurance against 
material misstatement or loss.

31

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Corporate governance report continued

Through the procedures outlined above, the Board, 
with advice from the Audit Committee, has considered all 
significant aspects of internal control for the year and up 
to the date of this Annual Report. No significant failings or 
weaknesses were identified during this review. However, 
had there been any such failings or weaknesses, the Board 
confirms that necessary actions would have been taken to 
remedy them.

Going concern 
The Board is required under the Code to consider whether  
or not it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in 
preparing the Group and the Company financial statements.
As part of its normal business practice the Group prepares 

annual and longer term financial plans. In addition, a going 
concern paper was prepared and presented to the Audit 
Committee in February 2014 prior to it recommending the 
approval of the financial statements and notes to the accounts 
for the year ended 31 December 2013 to the Board.

After making enquiries, the Board has a reasonable 

expectation that the Group and the Company have adequate 
cash resources and banking facilities to continue in 
operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, 
the Board continues to adopt the going concern basis in 
preparing the Annual Report and financial statements. Further 
information is provided in Note 1 to the financial statements. 

The Group’s management have established the procedures 
necessary to ensure that there is an ongoing process for 
identifying, evaluating and managing the significant risks to the 
Group. These procedures have been in place for the whole of 
the financial year ended 31 December 2013 and up to the 
date of the approval of these financial statements and they  
are reviewed regularly.

During 2013, the Audit Committee requested extended 

assurance over a number of areas. These included the 
implementation and controls over the Group’s new finance 
system, SAP Business 1, which was implemented during the 
year and a review of business continuity and disaster recovery 
plans. There was also a review of the Group’s current 
activities and controls in relation to potential cyber security 
threats, which are considered to be an ongoing risk to an 
online business. The outcome of both of these reviews 
provided high levels of assurance with a small number of 
follow up actions identified.

The key elements of the system of internal control are:
•  major commercial, strategic, competitive and financial risks 
are formally identified, quantified and assessed, discussed 
with the executive directors, after which they are considered 
by the Board; 

•  a comprehensive system of planning, budgeting and 

monitoring Group results. This includes monthly 
management reporting and monitoring of performance 
against both budgets and forecasts with explanations for  
all significant variances;

•  an organisational structure with clearly defined lines of 

responsibility and delegation of authority;

•  clearly defined policies for capital expenditure and 

investment exist, including appropriate authorisation levels, 
with larger capital projects, acquisitions and disposals 
requiring Board approval;

•  a comprehensive disaster recovery plan based upon 

co-hosting of the rightmove.co.uk website across three 
separate locations, which is regularly tested and reviewed;
•  a treasury function which manages cash flow forecasts and 
cash on deposit and counterparty risk and is responsible for 
monitoring compliance with banking agreements, where 
appropriate; and

•  whistleblowing and bribery policies of which all employees 

are made aware, to enable concerns to be raised either with 
line management or, if appropriate, confidentially outside 
the line management.

32

www.rightmove.co.ukShare buyback
The Company’s share buyback programme continued  
during 2013. Of the 15% authority given by shareholders  
at the 2013 Annual General Meeting, a total of 2,780,380 
(2012: 4,514,521) ordinary shares of £0.01 each were 
purchased in the year to 31 December 2013, being 2.7% 
(2012: 4.2%) of the shares in issue (excluding shares held in 
treasury) at the time the authority was granted. The average 
price paid per share was £21.77 (2012: £14.70) with a total 
consideration paid (inclusive of all costs) of £60,961,000 
(2012: £66,826,000). Since the introduction of the new parent 
company in January 2008, a total of 28,789,673 shares have 
been purchased of which 2,505,430 have been transferred 
into treasury with the remainder having been cancelled. 
A resolution seeking to renew this authority will be put to 
shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on 7 May 2014. 

Shares held in trust
As at 31 December 2013 740,324 (2012: 3,404,029) ordinary 
shares of £0.01 each in the Company were held by The 
Rightmove Employees’ Share Trust (EBT) for the benefit  
of Group employees. These shares had a nominal value at 
31 December 2013 of £7,000 (2012: £34,000) and a market 
value of £20,285,000 (2012: £48,882,000). The shares held 
by the EBT may be used to satisfy share-based incentives for 
the Group’s employee share plans. During the year 2,663,705 
(2012: 1,123,754) shares were transferred to Group 
employees following the exercise of share-based incentives. 
The terms of the EBT provide that dividends payable on 

the shares held by the EBT are waived.

Substantial shareholdings
As at the date of this report, the following beneficial interests 
in 3% or more of the Company’s issued ordinary share  
capital (excluding shares held in treasury) on behalf of the 
organisations shown in the table below, had been notified  
to the Company pursuant to Rule 5.1 of the Disclosure and 
Transparency Rules:

Governance | Directors’ report

Rightmove plc (the Company) is incorporated as a public 
limited company and is registered in England with the 
registered number 6426485. The Company’s registered office 
is Turnberry House, 30 Caldecotte Lake Drive, Caldecotte, 
Milton Keynes MK7 8LE. 

The directors submit their report together with the audited 

financial statements for the Company and its subsidiary 
companies (the Group) for the year ended 31 December 2013. 
Pages 33 to 35 comprise the Directors’ Report that has 
been drawn up and presented in accordance with English 
company law and the liabilities of the directors in connection 
with the report shall be subject to the limitations and 
restrictions provided by such law.

Strategic Report 
Pursuant to sections 414A-D Companies Act 2006  
(Strategic and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013, the 
business review has been replaced with a Strategic Report, 
which can be found on pages 4 to 21. This report sets out  
the development and performance of the Group’s business 
during the financial year, the position of the Company at the 
end of the year and a description of the principal risks and 
uncertainties facing the Company. 

Dividend
An interim dividend of 11.0p (2012: 9.0p) per ordinary  
share was paid in respect of the half year period on 
8 November 2013 to shareholders on the register of 
members at the close of business on 11 October 2013.  
The directors are recommending a final dividend for the year 
of 17.0p (2012: 14.0p) per ordinary share, which together 
with the interim dividend of 11.0p, makes a total for the  
year of 28.0p (2012: 23.0p), amounting to £27,920,000 
(2012: £23,280,000). Subject to shareholders’ approval at  
the Annual General Meeting on 7 May 2014, the final dividend 
will be paid on 6 June 2014 to shareholders on the register  
of members at the close of business on 9 May 2014.

Share capital
The ordinary shares in issue (including 2,505,430 shares  
held in treasury in both years) at the year end comprised 
103,115,735 (2012:105,896,115) ordinary shares of £0.01, 
being £1,031,000 (2012: £1,059,000). The holders of 
ordinary shares are entitled to receive dividends as declared 
from time to time, and are entitled to one vote per share at 
general meetings of the Company. Movements in the 
Company’s share capital and reserves in the year are shown 
in Note 22 and Note 23 to the financial statements. 
Information on the Group’s share-based incentive schemes  
is set out in Note 24 to the financial statements. Details of  
the share-based incentive schemes for directors are set out  
in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 37 to 62.

33

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Directors’ report continued

Shareholder

Baillie Gifford & Co

Standard Life Investments

Marathon Asset Management LLP

Caledonia Investments Pty Ltd 

Axa Investment Managers SA

BlackRock Inc

Kames Capital

Cantillon Capital Management

Old Mutual Asset Management

No. of shares 

%(1)

8,615,294

8,024,889

7,835,467

6,431,468

5,510,468

5,421,782

5,244,642

4,408,924

3,805,926

8.6

8.0

7.8

6.4

5.5

5.4

5.2

4.4

3.8

(1)  The above percentages are based upon the voting rights share capital 
(being the shares in issue less shares held in treasury) of 100,200,915.

Directors
The directors of the Company as at the date of this report are 
named on pages 22 to 23 together with their profiles. 
The Articles of Association of the Company require 

directors to submit themselves for re-appointment where they 
have been a director at each of the preceding two Annual 
General Meetings and were not appointed or re-appointed  
by the Company at, or since, either such meeting. Following 
the changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code in 
September 2010, all directors who have served during the 
year and remain a director as at 31 December 2013 will retire 
and offer themselves for re-election at the forthcoming Annual 
General Meeting.

Peter Williams will offer himself for election, this being  
his first Annual General Meeting following his appointment  
to the Board as non-executive director on 3 February 2014. 

The Board is satisfied that the directors retiring are qualified 

for re-appointment by virtue of their skills, experience and 
contribution to the Board. The executive directors have service 
agreements with the Company which can be terminated on  
12 months’ notice. The appointments for the non-executive 
directors can be terminated on three months’ notice.

The interests of the directors in the share capital of the 
Company at 31 December 2013, the directors’ total 
remuneration for the year and details of their service contracts 
and Letters of Appointment are set out in the Directors’ 
Remuneration Report on pages 37 to 62. At 31 December 
2013 all of the executive directors were deemed to have a 
non-beneficial interest in 740,324 ordinary shares of £0.01 
each held by the trustees of the EBT.

Research and development
The Group undertakes research and development activity in 
order to develop new products and to continually improve  
the existing property website. Further details are disclosed  
in Note 2 to the financial statements on page 75.

Political donations 
During the year the Group did not make any donations to any 
political party or other political organisation and did not incur 
any political expenditure within the meanings of Sections 362 
to 379 of the Companies Act 2006.

Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held at 
the offices of UBS Limited at 1 Finsbury Avenue, London, 
EC2M 2PP on 7 May 2014 at 10am. The Notice of Annual 
General Meeting will be published in March 2014.

The resolutions being proposed at the 2014 Annual 
General Meeting are general in nature including the renewal 
for a further year of the limited authority of the directors to 
allot the unissued share capital of the Company and to  
issue shares for cash other than to existing shareholders.  
A resolution will also be proposed to renew the directors’ 
authority to purchase a proportion of the Company’s own 
shares, along with a new resolution to approve the Directors’ 
Remuneration Policy.

One of the items of special business to be addressed at 
this Annual General Meeting relates to the requirement in the 
Companies (Shareholders’ Rights) Regulations 2009, which 
came into force on 3 August 2009 that all general meetings 
must be held on not less than 21 clear days’ notice unless 
shareholders approve a shorter notice period. At the 2013 
Annual General Meeting, a resolution was passed allowing 
the Company to call general meetings (other than Annual 
General Meetings) on not less than 14 clear days’ notice.  
As this authority will expire at the 2014 Annual General 
Meeting, a resolution will be proposed to renew this authority.

Auditor
Our auditor KPMG Audit Plc has instigated an orderly wind 
down of business. The Board has decided to put KPMG LLP 
forward to be appointed as auditors and a resolution 
concerning their appointment will be put to the forthcoming 
Annual General Meeting of the Company. 

34

www.rightmove.co.ukAudit information
So far as the directors in office at the date of signing of the 
report are aware, there is no relevant audit information of 
which the auditor is unaware and each such director has 
taken all reasonable steps to make themselves aware of any 
relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is 
aware of that information.

Greenhouse gas emissions 
Our first report of greenhouse gas emissions in line with 
UK mandatory reporting regulations is provided in the 
Corporate Responsibility section of the Strategic Report 
on pages 20 to 21. 

Fair, balanced and understandable
The Board has concluded that the 2013 Annual Report is  
fair, balanced and understandable and provides the 
necessary information for shareholders and other readers of 
the accounts to assess the Group’s performance, business  
model and strategy.

Responsibility statement of the directors in respect of 
the annual financial report
We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:
•  the financial statements, prepared in accordance with the 
applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and 
fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and 
profit or loss of the Company and the undertakings 
included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and 

•  the management report required by DTR 4.1.8R 

(contained in the Strategic Report and the Directors’ 
Report) includes a fair review of the development and 
performance of the business and the position of the 
Company and the undertakings included in the Group, 
taken as a whole, together with a description of the 
principal risks and uncertainties that they face. 

Signed by the Board:

Nick McKittrick 
Chief Executive Officer 
28 February 2014

Robyn Perriss
Finance Director  

35

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
Governance | Statement of directors’ responsibilities 

The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report 
and the Group and parent Company financial statements in 
accordance with applicable law and regulations. 

Company law requires the directors to prepare Group and 
parent Company financial statements for each financial year. 
Under that law they are required to prepare the group financial 
statements in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU 
and applicable law and have elected to prepare the parent 
Company financial statements on the same basis. 

Under company law the directors must not approve the 
financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give  
a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and 
parent Company and of their profit or loss for that period.  
In preparing each of the Group and parent Company financial 
statements, the directors are required to: 
•  select suitable accounting policies and then apply them 

consistently; 

•  make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and 

prudent; 

•  state whether they have been prepared in accordance  

with IFRSs as adopted by the EU; and 

•  prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis 
unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group and the 
parent Company will continue in business. 

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate 
accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the 
parent company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable 
accuracy at any time the financial position of the parent 
Company and enable them to ensure that its financial 
statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They have 
general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably 
open to them to safeguard the assets of the Group and to 
prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities. 

Under applicable law and regulations, the directors are 
also responsible for preparing a Strategic Report, Directors’ 
Report, Directors’ Remuneration Report and Corporate 
Governance Statement that complies with that law and  
those regulations. 

The directors are responsible for the maintenance and 
integrity of the corporate and financial information included  
on the company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing 
the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may 
differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

36

www.rightmove.co.ukGovernance | Directors’ remuneration report 

Annual statement by the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee

Jonathan Agnew
Chairman of the Remuneration Committee
Dear Shareholder
I am pleased to present the report on directors’ remuneration 
for Rightmove plc (the Company) and its subsidiary companies 
(the Group) for the year ended 31 December 2013. 

We have complied with The Large and Medium-sized 

Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) 
(Amendment) Regulations 2013 (the Act) and made some 
improvements to the layout of this report to better explain our 
reward philosophy and how our long-term thinking influences 
the way in which we incentivise and retain our people. 

As described in the Strategic Report, our 2013 results 
show strong organic revenue and profit growth. The increase 
in profit achieved this year once again demonstrates the 
strength of the Rightmove business model and brand and  
the effectiveness of our management team.

Performance and reward
In light of the combination of strong Company and executive 
directors’ performance achievements during the year, the 
Remuneration Committee considers the remuneration paid  
to the executive directors to reflect fairly their performance 
during the year. As a result of the strong financial and 
operational results of the Company, the annual bonus 
entitlement for executive directors was 85% of the  
maximum for 2013.

With regard to the Company’s longer-term performance, 
reflecting the successful implementation of its growth strategy 
over the last three financial years, the 2011 Performance Share 
Plan awards (measuring performance from 1 January 2011 to 
31 December 2013) will vest in full as a result of delivering 
normalised EPS(1) growth of 99% and TSR growth of 266% 
over the performance period, which significantly exceeded the 
respective growth targets set of 50% and Index +25% over 
the three year period.

Remuneration policy for 2014
As previously communicated to our shareholders, 2013 was 
the final year of a three year remuneration policy. In order to 
ensure that our remuneration policy reflects the changes 
within the year in the Company’s executive directors’ roles 
and responsibilities, continues to support the Company’s 
long-term growth strategy and provides appropriate reward 
for performance, the Committee conducted a comprehensive 
review of the executive director remuneration policy. 

The key conclusion of the review was that the current 

reward philosophy of providing below market fixed pay 
(base salary, pension and minimal benefits) and above market 
variable pay opportunity (short and long-term incentives)  
for delivery of challenging performance targets remains 
appropriate for a growth orientated company. However,  
a number of modifications were considered appropriate to  
the current remuneration practices as a result of the review.
In summary, the key revisions to current remuneration 
practices along with the key outputs of the review were  
as follows:
•  We remain committed to a pay model of below comparative 

median benchmarks on fixed pay and an above median 
incentive opportunity.

•  Within the Rightmove pay model, non-inflationary 

adjustments to base salary levels are to take place to reflect 
the current executive directors’ roles and responsibilities, 
with the exception of the Chief Executive Officer.

•  Moderate changes to pension provision are to take place  

to align the current pension scheme with new requirements 
arising from auto enrolment.

•  No changes are being made to annual bonus opportunity 
with 60% of any bonus earned continuing to be deferred 
into the Company’s shares for a period of two years.

(1)  Diluted underlying EPS but with a standard UK tax rate applied.

37

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

Annual statement by the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee continued

•  Annual award levels under the Company’s Performance 

Share Plan will increase to 200% of salary but with tougher 
underlying earnings per share growth targets. Awards in 
2013 were granted at 150% of salary.

•  The earnings per share target will no longer be normalised 
for taxation allowing investors to more easily compare it 
to published analyst data and consensus expectations.

•  Clawback will continue to operate in relation to both 

deferred annual bonus awards and Performance Share  
Plan awards.

•  The existing share ownership guidelines will be retained 
(200% of base salary for the Chief Executive Officer and 
100% of base salary for other executive directors).

Further details in relation to the remuneration policy, which is 
expected to operate for at least the next three year period from 
January 2014 (with an effective date for the purposes of the 
new legislation of 7 May 2014) are set out on pages 39 to 47.

Shareholder views
We are committed to maintaining an open and transparent 
dialogue with shareholders. 

The above changes to remuneration practices were 
implemented following a wide ranging pre-consultation 
exercise with our major shareholders which culminated in  
an amendment to the original proposals to reflect the 
feedback received. 

The objective of this report is to communicate clearly  
how much our executive directors are earning and how this  
is closely linked to performance.

Shareholders will be provided with an opportunity to  
vote on the Remuneration Policy at our forthcoming AGM  
to be held on 7 May 2014 and we hope to receive your 
continued support.

Jonathan Agnew
Chairman of the Remuneration Committee

38

www.rightmove.co.uk•  Executive directors should have below market levels of base 
salary, minimal benefits (and only benefits which are made 
available on the same basis to all Rightmove employees), 
but with above market levels of variable pay potential. This 
arrangement is designed to best align the interests of the 
executive directors with the interests of shareholders and to 
reflect the performance driven culture of the Company. The 
Company will generally review market levels of remuneration 
for executive directors with the assistance of external, 
independent remuneration consultants and with shareholder 
consultation every three years.

•  Having reviewed executive director remuneration against 

the market every three years, further changes to 
remuneration should be made infrequently and those 
changes made each year should, in most instances, be 
directly linked to the policies applied to all employees 
(specifically with regard to cost of living rises in base salary 
and changes in benefits).

•  Executive directors should be principally rewarded for the 

overall success of the business for which they have 
collective responsibility. The Company has key short-term, 
medium/long-term goals and executive directors should be 
incentivised against these goals. 

•  Executive directors should not be able to gain significantly 
from short-term successes which subsequently prove not 
to be consistent with growing the overall value of the 
business. Hence a majority of any bonus payable in relation 
to short-term strategic goals is required to be taken in the 
form of shares in the Company which are deferred for a 
further two years after the bonus target has been achieved.

The table overleaf provides an overview of the Committee’s 
remuneration policy which has been designed to reflect the 
principles described above: 

Remuneration Policy Report (unaudited)

Introduction
This report sets out the Company’s policy on directors’ 
remuneration for the forthcoming year, and, so far as 
practicable, for subsequent years, as well as information on 
remuneration paid to directors for the financial year ended 
31 December 2013. This report has been prepared in 
accordance with the Companies Act 2006, the Large and 
Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and 
Reports) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (the Act) and the 
2012 UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code).

In accordance with the Act this report has been split into 

two sections: a Policy Report and an Annual Report on 
Remuneration. The parts of the report which have been 
audited have been highlighted as required by the Act.

Remuneration Policy Report (the Policy Report)  
This part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report sets out the 
remuneration policy for the Company and has been prepared 
in accordance with the Act. The policy has been developed 
after taking into account Rightmove’s pay philosophy that our 
executives should be rewarded with demonstrably lower than 
market base salaries and benefits and higher than market 
equity rewards contingent upon the achievement of 
challenging performance targets in accordance with the  
‘best practice’ principles set out in the Code and the views  
of our major shareholders.

The Policy Report will be put to a binding shareholder vote 

at the 2014 AGM and, subject to the Policy Report receiving 
majority shareholder support, it will operate with an ‘Effective 
Date’ of 7 May 2014 for the purposes of complying with the 
Act. In practice, however, the Remuneration Committee 
(herein referred to as the Committee throughout this report) 
intends to apply the policy detailed below from the start of  
the current financial year and throughout the three year  
policy period that commences from the Effective Date. 
The key principles of the Committee’s policy are  

as follows:
•  Remuneration arrangements should be simple to explain, 

understand and administer. 

•  Remuneration arrangements should be designed to provide 
executive directors with the opportunity to receive a share  
in the future growth and development of the Company 
which is regarded as fair by both other employees and 
shareholders. This approach should allow the Company to 
attract and retain the dynamic, self-motivated individuals 
who are critical to the success of the business.

39

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

Remuneration policy

Element of 
remuneration

Purpose and link  
to strategy

Operation

Maximum  
opportunity

Performance  
criteria

The Committee considers  
both individual and Company 
performance in a broad context 
when determining base salary 
increases.

Salaries for 2014 are as follows:
•  CEO: £400,000; 
•  COO: £335,000; and
•  FD: £265,000.

The above salary levels will be 
eligible for increases during the 
three year period that the 
Remuneration Policy operates 
from the Effective Date.

During this time, salaries may 

be increased each year (in 
percentage of salary terms) in line 
with those of the wider workforce 
(after taking into account the 
annual salary budget and 
performance related increases 
within the overall salary budget).
Increases beyond those linked 
to the workforce (in percentage of 
salary terms) may be awarded in 
certain circumstances such as 
where there is a change in 
responsibility, experience or a 
significant increase in the scale of 
the role and/or size, value and/or 
complexity of the Group.

The value of benefits may vary 
from year to year depending on 
the cost to the Company from 
third party providers.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Company contributions of up to 
6% of base salary subject to the 
employee contributing a minimum 
of 3% of base salary. From 
February 2014 the cap on 
Company contributions of £3,000 
per annum will be removed in 
order for the scheme to be 
certified for auto enrolment 
purposes.

Salary

To provide a 
competitive base 
salary which will 
attract and retain high 
calibre executives  
to execute the 
Group’s business 
strategy.

Base salaries are normally  
reviewed annually, with changes 
effective from 1 January.
When considering the executive’s 
eligibility for a salary increase,  
the Committee considers the 
following points:
•  size and responsibilities of  

the role;

•  individual and Group 

performance;

•  increases awarded to the  

wider workforce; and
•  broader economic and 
inflationary conditions.

Executive directors are 
benchmarked against external 
market data periodically (generally 
every three years). Relevant 
market comparators are selected 
for comparison, which include 
other companies of a similar size 
and complexity. The Committee 
considers benchmark data, 
alongside a broad review of the 
individual’s skills and experience, 
performance and internal 
relativities.

The executive directors are 
enrolled in the Company’s private 
medical insurance scheme and 
receive life assurance cover equal 
to four times base salary. 

Additionally, Nick McKittrick and 
Robyn Perriss are members of the 
Company’s medical cash plan.

The Group operates a stakeholder 
pension plan for employees under 
which the employer contributes 
6% of base salary subject to the 
employee contributing a minimum 
of 3% of base salary. 

The Company does not 
contribute to any personal 
pension arrangements.

Whilst executives are not 
obliged to join, the Company 
operates a pension salary 
exchange arrangement whereby 
executives can exchange part of 
their salary for Company paid 
pension contributions. Where 
executives exchange salary and 
this reduces the Company’s 
National Insurance Contributions 
the Company credits the entire 
saving to the executive’s pension.

Benefits

To provide simple,  
cost-effective, 
employee benefits 
which are the same 
as those offered to 
the wider workforce.

Pension

To provide a basic,  
cost-effective, 
long-term retirement 
benefit.

40

www.rightmove.co.uk 
Maximum  
opportunity

Maximum (% salary):
125% of base salary.

Element of 
remuneration

Purpose and link  
to strategy

Operation

Annual bonus 
including 
Deferred 
Share Bonus 
Plan (DSP)

To incentivise and 
recognise execution 
of the business 
strategy on an  
annual basis.

Rewards the 
achievement of  
annual financial and 
operational goals.

The annual bonus comprises  
a cash award (40% of any bonus 
earned) and a DSP award  
(60% of any bonus earned).

Deferred shares will vest after 

two years and be potentially 
forfeitable during that period.

Payments under the annual 
bonus plan may be subject to 
clawback in the event of a material 
misstatement of the Company’s 
financial results or misconduct.

Maximum (% salary):  
200% of base salary. 

Performance 
Share  
Plan (PSP)

To incentivise and 
reward executives for 
the achievement of 
superior returns to 
shareholders over a 
three year period, 
and to retain key 
individuals and align 
interests with 
shareholders.

Following shareholder approval  
at the 2011 AGM, the PSP was 
established. The PSP permits 
annual awards of nil-cost options, 
contingent shares and forfeitable 
shares which vest after three 
years subject to continued  
service and the achievement  
of challenging performance 
conditions.

A dividend equivalent provision 
operates enabling dividends to be 
paid (in cash or shares) on shares 
at the time of vesting.

PSP awards may be subject  

to clawback in the event of a 
material misstatement of the 
Company’s financial results  
or misconduct.

Performance  
criteria

The bonus is determined based 
on performance against a range  
of key performance indicators.
The primary bonus metric will  
be profit-based (e.g. underlying 
operating profit before tax) with 
targets set in relation to a 
carefully considered business 
plan and requiring significant 
out-performance of that plan to 
trigger maximum payments. 

A minority of bonus will also be 
earned based on pre-set targets 
drawn from the Group’s other key 
performance indicators relating to 
underlying drivers of long-term 
revenue growth.

Details of the performance 
measures used for the current 
year and the targets set for  
the year under review and 
performance against them  
is provided on page 55.

25% of the awards vest for 
hitting the threshold performance 
target. Bonus is earned on a 
graduated basis from threshold to 
maximum performance levels.

Awards vest based on three year 
performance against a 
challenging range of financial 
targets (including EPS) and 
relative TSR performance.  

Financial targets will determine 

vesting in relation to at least half 
of an award.

25% of the awards vest  

for hitting the threshold 
performance target.

The performance period for 
financial targets and relative TSR 
targets is three financial years, 
starting with the year in which the 
award is granted. 

41

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

Element of 
remuneration

Purpose and link  
to strategy

Operation

Maximum  
opportunity

All-employee  
Sharesave 
Plan

Provides all 
employees with the 
opportunity to 
become owners in 
the Company on 
similar terms.

Share 
ownership  
guidelines

To provide alignment 
between the 
executives  
and shareholders.

Non- 
executive  
directors

To provide a 
competitive fee which 
will attract and retain 
high calibre 
individuals and 
reflects their relevant 
skills and experience.

Executive directors are entitled  
to participate in the Group’s 
Sharesave Plan on the same 
terms as all other employees. 

Periodic invitations are made to 

participate in the Sharesave Plan.

Participants commit to a 

savings contract over a three year 
period through which a grant  
of share options is made (by 
reference to projected savings 
over a three year savings contract) 
with an exercise price set at up to 
a 20% discount to  
the share price at the date of 
grant. On the maturity of the 
savings contracts, participants 
can elect to:
(i)  use the accumulated savings  

to exercise the option; or

(ii)  request the return of  

their savings.  

Executive directors are required  
to retain at least half of any share 
awards vesting or exercised (after 
selling sufficient shares to meet 
the exercise price and to pay any 
tax liabilities due) until they have 
met the shareholding guideline. 
The Committee will regularly 

monitor progress towards the 
guideline.

The fees for non-executive 
directors (including the Company 
Chairman) are reviewed 
periodically (generally every  
three to four years). 

The Remuneration Committee 

will consider the Chairman’s  
fee, whilst the non-executive 
directors’ fee is considered by  
the wider Board excluding the 
non-executives.  

Fee levels for each role are 
determined after considering the 
responsibility of the role, the skills 
and knowledge required and the 
expected time commitments.

Periodic benchmarking against 

relevant market comparators, 
reflecting the size and complexity 
of the role, is used to provide 
context when setting fee levels. 

42

Performance  
criteria

None

Participation in the Sharesave 
Plan is based on HMRC rules 
which limit monthly savings 
towards share purchases under 
three year savings contracts to 
£250 per calendar month, which 
is expected to increase to £500 
per calendar month from tax year 
2014/2015 in line with the 
Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

Shareholding guideline:
• CEO – 200% of base salary;
•  COO & FD – 100% of  

base salary.

Not applicable

None

Fees for 2014 are:
•  Chairman: £114,747;
•  NED (Basic fee): £45,899;
•  Additional fee for chairing  
Audit or Remuneration 
Committee: £5,737; and
•  Additional fee for Senior 

Independent Director role: £5,737.

The Chairman and non-executive 
directors’ fee increases in future 
years are expected to increase 
(in percentage terms) in line with the 
basic level of pay rise received by 
employees within the business.

Fee increases beyond the level 

detailed above may take place if 
feelevels are considered to have 
become out of line with the 
responsibilities and time 
commitments of individual roles.

Flexibility is retained to go above 

the above fee levels in the event 
that it is necessary to recruit a new 
Chairman or non-executive 
director of an appropriate calibre in 
future years.

www.rightmove.co.uk 
Discretions maintained by the Committee in operating 
its incentive plans
The Committee will operate the annual bonus plan, PSP  
and Sharesave Plan according to their respective rules and  
in accordance with the Listing Rules and HMRC rules  
where relevant. 

The Committee retains discretion, consistent with market 

practice, in a number of regards to the operation and 
administration of these plans. These discretions include,  
but are not limited to, the following:
•  The selection of participants in the respective plan;
•  The timing of grant of an award (if any) and payments;
•  The size of an award and/or a payment (with limits as 

described in the previous table);

•  The extent of vesting based on the achievement of 

performance targets and applicable exercise periods  
where relevant; 

•  How to deal with a change of control (e.g. the timing of 

testing performance targets) or restructuring of the Group;

•  Determination of a good/bad leaver for incentive plan 
purposes based on the rules of each plan and the 
appropriate treatment chosen including the timing of the 
delivery of shares;

•  Adjustments (if any) required in certain circumstances  
(e.g. rights issues, corporate restructuring events and 
special dividends); and

•  The annual review of performance measures, targets and 
weightings for the annual bonus plan and PSP from year  
to year.

The Committee also retains the ability to adjust the targets 
and/or set different measures for the annual bonus plan and 
PSP if events occur (e.g. a material divestment or acquisition) 
which cause it to determine that the conditions are no longer 
appropriate and the amendment is required so that the 
conditions achieve their original purpose and are not 
materially less difficult to satisfy.

Any use of the above discretions would, where relevant, 

be detailed in the Annual Report on Remuneration and, if 
appropriate, the subject of prior communication with the 
Company’s major shareholders.

All previous share options, PSP, DSP and Sharesave 

awards that were granted but remain outstanding at 
31 December 2013 (detailed on pages 57 to 60), remain 
eligible to vest based on their original award terms.

Selection of performance measures and how  
targets are set
The performance metrics that are used for annual bonus and 
long-term incentive plans are a subset of the Group’s key 
performance indicators.

For the annual bonus, underlying operating profit before 
tax(1) is the primary performance metric used as it is aligned to 
the Group’s strategy of delivering profitable growth and is a key 
financial performance indicator used within the business. 
Consistent with previous years, operating profit is measured on 
an underlying basis, to exclude any volatility in relation to the 
Company’s share price in connection with the IFRS 2 valuation 
and National Insurance charge on share-based incentives 
granted. The underlying operating profit(1) before tax target is 
set on a sliding scale based around the business plan for the 
year, with 25% payable for threshold performance. 

The annual bonus also considers performance against 

other operational metrics, including the total page 
impressions viewed on our website and mobile platforms, and 
innovation revenue, for a minority of the bonus, with a sliding 
scale used to determine performance against each measure. 
Page impressions are a measure of the size and engagement 
of our audience and the value which Rightmove, as a media 
Group, brings to our customers. Therefore a challenging 
target to increase this audience is considered appropriate by 
the Committee. The innovation revenue target will measure 
growth in revenue from non-core businesses. Since these will 
in almost all cases be at an early stage, we consider growth in 
revenue rather than in operating profit to be the appropriate 
measure and note that this element of the bonus is only a 
small proportion of the total bonus opportunity.

For the PSP, awards are subject to a combination of EPS 
and relative TSR performance conditions. EPS is considered 
the most appropriate financial metric for this particular 
business at this stage in its development (since it is the 
measure of profitability that is most closely aligned with 
shareholders’ interests and monitored on an ongoing basis 
within the business). The policy also recognises that relative 
TSR should also be a performance measure in order for there 
to be a clear alignment of executive and shareholder interests. 
EPS targets are set based on sliding scales that take account 
of internal financial planning and external analyst forecasts. 
Only 25% of the EPS element will pay out for threshold 
performance levels, with the maximum award requiring 
substantial out-performance. For TSR, the range of targets 
measure how successful the Company is in out-performing 
the FTSE250 Index (the Index within which the Company 
currently resides) with 25% of this part of the award vesting  

(1)  Before share-based payments and NI on share-based incentives.

43

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

GRAPHICS

GRAPHICS
GRAPHICS

CHARTS

CHARTS

CHARTS

Reward scenarios 
The Company’s reward policy (as previously outlined) is 
illustrated below using three different performance scenarios: 
Chief Executive Officer
below target, on-target and maximum: 

1,800
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer

at the threshold performance level, through to full vesting  
for 25% out-performance of the Index over the three year 
performance period. 

The targets for awards to be granted under the PSP in 
2014 are consistent with the policy set out above and are  
set out in the Annual Report on Remuneration.

Performance targets do not apply to Sharesave awards 
since these awards are structured to encourage employees 
to become share owners and to maintain tax-favoured  
status the awards must operate on a consistent basis for  
all employees.

How the views of employees are taken into account
The Company has not to date felt it necessary to consult 
directly with employees on executive remuneration matters. 
However, the Committee is kept aware of pay and 
employment conditions within the wider workforce when 
setting executive directors’ remuneration policy. 

Remuneration policy for executive directors compared 
to other employees
The Committee will consider the proposed salary increase 
budget for the whole Group when it is deciding on salary 
increases for executive directors specifically. 

In line with the Company’s strategy to keep remuneration 

simple and consistent benefits and pension arrangements 
provided to executive directors are the same as those offered 
to all Group employees. 

The extent to which annual bonuses are offered varies by 

level of employee within the Group, with the quantum and 
performance metrics used determined by the nature of the 
role and responsibilities and market rates at that level.

Long-term incentive awards, other than the all-employee 

Sharesave Plan, are only offered to senior management  
as those awards are more heavily weighted towards 
performance-related pay and have a stronger visibility on the 
value created for shareholders and the reward for participants. 

Shareholders’ views
The Committee considers it vitally important to maintain  
open and transparent communication with the Company’s 
shareholders. The Committee will consult with major 
shareholders before any material change in remuneration 
policy is approved. The views of shareholders received  
at the AGM, during meetings with investors and through  
other contact during the year, are considered by the 
Committee and contribute to the development of the  
overall remuneration policy. 

44

0
0
0
£

0
0
0
£

0
0
0
£

1,500
1,800
1,800
1,200
1,500
1,500
900
1,200
1,200
600
900
900
300
600
600
0
300
300

0
0

£1,177

43%
£1,177
£1,177

23%
43%
43%

£402

100%
£402
£402
Below target
100%
100%

Below target
Below target

Fixed pay

Annual bonus

34%
23%
23%
On-target
34%
34%

PSP

On-target
On-target
PSP
PSP

Fixed pay
Chief Operating Officer
Fixed pay

Annual bonus
Annual bonus

1,600
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Operating Officer
1,400

0
0
0
£

0
0
0
£

0
0
0
£

1,600
1,200
1,600
1,400
1,000
1,400
1,200
800
1,200
1,000
600
1,000
800
400
800
600
200
600
400
0
400
200

200
0

0

£1,006

42%
£1,006

£1,006
23%
42%

42%

35%
23%

£357

100%
£357

23%
On-target
35%

£357
Below target
100%

Fixed pay

Annual bonus

PSP

100%
Below target

35%
On-target

Fixed pay

Below target

Annual bonus

PSP
On-target

Fixed pay
Finance Director

Annual bonus

PSP

1,200
Finance Director

Finance Director
1,000
1,200

0
0
0
£

0
0
0
£

0
0
0
£

1,200
800
1,000

1,000
600
800

800
400
600

200
600
400

0
400
200

200
0

0

£796

£796
42%

£796

42%
23%
42%

23%
35%
23%

£283

100%
£283

Below target
£283
100%

On-target
35%

Fixed pay

Annual bonus

PSP

100%
Below target

35%
On-target

Fixed pay

Below target

Annual bonus

PSP
On-target

Fixed pay

Annual bonus

PSP

£1,702

£1,702
47%
£1,702

47%
47%
29%

29%
24%
29%

Maximum
24%
24%

Maximum
Maximum

£1,446

£1,446
46%
£1,446

46%

46%
29%

29%
25%
29%

Maximum
25%

25%
Maximum

Maximum

£1,144

£1,144
46%
£1,144

46%

46%
29%

29%
25%
29%

Maximum
25%

25%
Maximum

Maximum

1,800

1,500

1,800

1,800

1,200

1,500

1,500

900

1,200

1,200

0
0
0
‘

£

0
0
0
‘

£

0

‘

£

0

0

600

900

900

300

600

0

300

600

300

0

0

0
0
0
‘

£

0
0
0
‘

£

0

0

0

‘

£

0
0
0

‘

£

0
0
0

‘

£

0

0

0

‘

£

1,600

1,400

1,600

1,200

1,600

1,400

1,000

1,400

1,200

800

1,200

1,000

600

1,000

800

400

800

600

200

600

400

0

400

200

200

0

0

1,200

1,000

1,200

1,200

800

1,000

1,000

600

800

400

800

600

200

600

400

0

400

200

200

0

0

£402

£402

£402

Below target

On-target

Maximum

Below target

Below target

On-target

On-target

Maximum

Maximum

£1,702

£1,702

£1,702

£1,446

£1,446

£1,446

£1,177

£1,177

£1,177

£1,006

£1,006

£1,006

£357

£357

£283

£283

£357

Below target

On-target

Maximum

Below target

On-target

Maximum

Below target

On-target

Maximum

£1,144

£1,144

£1,144

£796

£796

£796

Below target

£283

On-target

Maximum

Below target

On-target

Maximum

Below target

On-target

Maximum

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Assumptions:
1.  Below target = fixed pay only (Salary + Benefits + Pension).
2.  On-target = 55% payable of the 2014 annual bonus 
and 62.5% vesting of the 2014 PSP awards being the 
midpoint between threshold vesting of 25% and maximum 
vesting of 100%.

The executive directors can participate in the Sharesave Plan 
on the same basis as other employees. The value that may  
be received under these schemes is subject to tax approved 
limits. For simplicity, the value that may be received from 
participating in these schemes has been excluded from the 
above charts. 

3.  Maximum = 100% payable of the 2014 annual bonus and 

Amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1,000. 

100% vesting of the 2014 PSP awards.

Base salary is as set at 1 January 2014. The value of taxable 
benefits is based on the cost of supplying those benefits 
(using the cost as disclosed on page 53) for the year ending 
31 December 2013. The pension value is set using a 6% of 
base salary contribution for the COO and FD (the CEO waives 
his pension entitlement). 

Element of remuneration

Policy

Recruitment and promotion policy
The Committee proposes an executive director’s remuneration 
package for new appointments in line with the principles 
outlined in the table below: 

Base salary

Benefits

Pension

Annual bonus

Long-term incentives

Buy-out awards

Base salary levels will be set based on the roles and responsibilities of the individual together with their 
relevant skills and experience, taking into account the market rates for companies of comparable size and 
complexity and internal Company relativities. In some circumstances (e.g. to reflect an individual’s limited 
experience at a PLC board level) it may be considered appropriate to set initial salary levels below the 
perceived market competitive rate. Phased increases, potentially above inflation, may then be offered to 
achieve the desired market positioning over time, subject to individual’s continued performance and 
development in the role. 

Benefits as provided to current executive directors. Where necessary the Committee may approve the 
payment of relocation expenses to facilitate recruitment, and flexibility is retained for the Company to pay 
legal fees and other costs incurred by the individual in relation to their appointment.

A defined contribution at the level provided to current executive directors.

An annual bonus would operate in the same manner as outlined for the current executives (as described 
above and in the Annual Report on Remuneration), although it would be pro-rated to reflect the 
employment period during the bonus year. 
The bonus maximum potential would not exceed 125% of base salary. 
It would be expected that the bonus for a new appointment would be assessed on the same 
performance metrics as that for the current executives on an ongoing basis. However, depending on the 
timing and nature of appointment it may be necessary to set tailored performance criteria for their first 
bonus plan. 

A new appointment will be eligible to receive an award under the PSP policy outlined in the policy table. 
Share awards may be granted shortly after an appointment (subject to the Company not being in a close 
period) and would be measured against the same performance criteria as the current executives. 
The ongoing award maximum would not exceed 200% of base salary. 
For an internal hire, existing awards would continue over their original vesting period and remain subject 
to their terms as at the date of grant. 
The new appointment would be eligible to participate in the Sharesave Plan under the same terms as all 
other employees. 

To facilitate an external recruitment, it may be necessary to buy-out remuneration which would be 
forfeited on leaving their previous employer. When determining the quantum and structure of any buy-out 
awards the Committee will, as a minimum, take into account the following factors:
• the form of remuneration (cash or shares); 
• timing of expected payment/vesting; and 
•  expected value (i.e. taking into account the likelihood of achieving the existing performance criteria). 
Buy-out awards, if used, will be granted using the Company’s existing share plans to the extent possible, 
although awards may also be granted outside of these schemes if necessary and as permitted under the 
Listing Rules. 

45

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

Directors’ service contracts and non-executive directors’ 
terms of appointment
The Committee’s policy on service agreements for executive 
directors is that they should provide for 12 months’ notice  
of termination by the Company and by the executive. Any 
proposals for the early termination by the Company of the 
service agreements of directors or senior executives are 
considered by the Committee.

The service agreements for the executive directors allow 
for lawful termination of employment by making a payment  
in lieu of notice or by making phased payments over any 
remaining unexpired period of notice. The phased payments 
may be reduced if, and to the extent that, the executive finds 
an alternative remunerated position. 

In addition, any statutory entitlements or sums to settle or 
compromise claims in connection with the termination would 
be paid as necessary. 

For Nick McKittrick a payment in lieu of notice will be 
related to base salary, benefits and projected annual bonus 
pursuant to the Group’s targets being achieved for the  
year (pro-rated for any unexpired period of notice where 
appropriate). The Committee is aware that the provision of 
annual bonus with a payment in lieu of notice is no longer 
considered in line with best practice. The provision within  
Nick McKittrick’s contract is considered a legacy issue which 
would not be repeated in any future director’s service contract. 
For Peter Brooks-Johnson and Robyn Perriss a payment 
in lieu of notice will be restricted to base salary and benefits.
The treatment for share-based incentives previously 
granted to an executive director will be determined based  
on the relevant plan rules. The default treatment will be for 
outstanding awards to lapse on cessation of employment. 

employing company, or other circumstances at the discretion 
of the Committee. If defined as a good leaver, awards will 
remain subject to performance conditions, which will be 
measured over the performance period from grant to the 
original vesting date, unless the Committee determine to 
assess performance from grant to the date of cessation, and 
which will be reduced pro-rata to reflect the proportion of the 
performance period actually served. The Committee retains 
the discretion to disapply time pro-rating in exceptional 
circumstances. 

For awards granted under the DSP, ‘good leaver’ status 

may be determined for reasons of death, injury, disability, 
redundancy, transfer or sale of the employing company or 
other circumstances at the discretion of the Committee.  
If defined as a good leaver, awards will be retained and vest 
on the original vesting date. 

Scott Forbes’ appointment may be terminated by either 
party giving to the other not less than three months’ notice in 
writing. The Company may also terminate by making a 
payment in lieu of notice. Scott Forbes is not contractually 
entitled to any other benefits on termination of his contract.

The Letters of Appointment for the non-executive directors 

provide for a term of up to two three year periods and a 
possible further three year term (subject to re-election by 
shareholders and subject to the director remaining 
independent). The appointments may be terminated with a 
notice period of three months on either side and the Letters of 
Appointment set out the time commitments required to meet 
the expectations of their roles. 

Copies are available for inspection on request to the 

Company Secretary. 

Further details of all directors’ contracts and Letters of 

For awards granted under the PSP (approved by 

Appointment are summarised opposite:

shareholders in 2011) ‘good leaver’ status may be 
determined, in certain prescribed circumstances, such as 
death, ill health, disability, redundancy, transfer or sale of the 

46

www.rightmove.co.ukDate of appointment 

Letter of Appointment(1) 

(months) 

at 28 February 2014

Date of contract/ 

Notice 

Length of service  

Executive directors 

Nick McKittrick (Chief Executive Officer)(2) 

5 March 2004 

7 February 2006 

Peter Brooks-Johnson(3) 

Robyn Perriss(4) 

Non-executive directors 

Scott Forbes (Chairman)  

10 January 2011 

22 February 2011 

30 April 2013 

1 May 2013 

13 July 2005 

21 February 2006 

Jonathan Agnew (Senior Independent Director) 

16 January 2006 

12 December 2005 

Colin Kemp   

Ashley Martin 

Judy Vezmar  

Peter Williams 

3 July 2007 

4 December 2007 

11 June 2009 

9 June 2009 

16 January 2006 

12 December 2005 

3 February 2014 

3 February 2014 

12 

12 

12 

9 years 11 months

3 years 1 month

10 months

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

8 years 7 months

8 years 2 months

6 years 7 months

4 years 8 months

8 years 2 months

1 month

(1)  The service contracts and the Letters of Appointment for all directors appointed prior to 28 January 2008 were transferred from Rightmove Group Limited to 

Rightmove plc with effect from this date on completion of a Scheme of Arrangement under the Companies Act 1985.

(2)  Nick McKittrick joined the Group in December 2000 and was appointed to the Board on 5 March 2004. His service with the Group at the date of this report is 

13 years and 2 months.

(3)  Peter Brooks-Johnson joined the Group on 9 January 2006 and was appointed to the Board on 10 January 2011. His service with the Group at the date of this 

report is 8 years and 1 month.

(4)  Robyn Perriss joined the Group on 1 July 2007 and was appointed to the Board on 30 April 2013. Her service to the Group at the date of this report is 6 years  

and 8 months.

External appointments
With the approval of the Board in each case, executive directors may accept one external appointment as a non-executive 
director of another listed or similar company and retain any fees received. 

47

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

Annual Report on Remuneration

Role and membership

Terms of reference 
The primary role of the Committee is to make 
recommendations to the Board as to the Company’s broad 
policy and framework for the remuneration of the executive 
directors, the Chairman of the Board and the Company 
Secretary. The remuneration and terms of appointment  
of the non-executive directors are determined by the Board 
as a whole.

In accordance with the Code, the Committee also 

recommends the structure and monitors the level of 
remuneration for the first layer of management below Board 
level. The Committee is also aware of, and advises on, the 
employee benefit structures throughout the Group and 
ensures that it is kept aware of any potential business risks 
arising from those remuneration arrangements. 

The Committee has formal terms of reference which are 
reviewed annually and updated as required. These are available 
on the Company’s website at plc.rightmove.co.uk or on 
request from the Company Secretary.

Membership
The following independent non-executive directors were 
members of the Committee during 2013 and continue to  
be members. During 2013 the Committee met eight times 
and attendance at the meetings is shown below:

Name of director  

Jonathan Agnew 

Ashley Martin  

Judy Vezmar 

Colin Kemp(1) 

Number of meetings attended

8 out of 8 

 8 out of 8 

8 out of 8 

5 out of 5

(1)  Colin Kemp was invited to join the Committee in March 2013 and has 

attended all subsequent Committee meetings.

The quorum for meetings of the Committee is two members. 
The Committee will meet at such times as may be necessary 
but will normally meet at least five times a year.

The Assistant Company Secretary acts as Secretary to  

the Committee.

Only members of the Committee have the right to attend 
Committee meetings. The Chairman of the Committee has 
requested that the Chairman of the Board attend the meetings 
except during discussions relating to his own remuneration. 

The Chief Executive Officer may also be invited to  
meetings and the Committee takes into consideration their 
recommendations regarding the remuneration of executive 
colleagues and the first layer of management below Board 
level. No executive director is involved in deciding their  
own remuneration.

External advisers
New Bridge Street (NBS), an Aon Hewitt Company, which is  
a member of the Remuneration Consultants Group and has 
signed up to its Code of Conduct, has been retained as the 
Committee’s remuneration adviser since 2011. The terms of 
engagement between the Company and NBS are available 
from the Company Secretary on request. 

During the year, the Committee commissioned an 
independent review by NBS to assist in its determination  
of an appropriate future remuneration framework for executive 
directors to apply from 2014. The total fees paid to NBS  
in respect of services to the Committee during the year  
were £68,000. 

During 2013 NBS also provided services to the Company 

in connection with the valuation of share-based incentives  
(as required by IFRS 2) and confirmed that, in its view, these 
services did not present a conflict of interest with the other 
services provided to the Committee.

The Committee reviews its relationship with external 

advisors on a regular basis and continues to believe that there 
are no conflicts of interest.

What has the Committee done during the year? 
The Committee met eight times during the year to consider 
and, where appropriate, approve key remuneration items 
including the following:

Pay and incentive plan reviews
•  Annual review and approval of executive directors’ base 

salaries and benefits;

•  Reviewed year end business performance against relevant 
performance targets to determine annual bonus payouts 
and vesting of long-term incentives;

•  Reviewed and approved overall remuneration policy for 

executive directors for 2014, including appropriate 
benchmarks and performance measures for the annual 
performance related bonus and 2014 PSP awards  
to ensure measures are aligned with strategy and that 
targets are appropriately stretching;

•  Ongoing monitoring of senior management  

remuneration structures;

48

www.rightmove.co.uk•  Consulted with institutional shareholders with a significant 
shareholding on the proposed changes to the executive 
remuneration policy;

•  Approval of share awards granted under the Deferred Share 
Bonus Plan (DSP) and the Rightmove Performance Share 
Plan (PSP); and

•  Amended the rules of the 2006 and 2008 Rightmove  
Group Unapproved Executive Share Option Plans to 
facilitate net settlement.

Governance
•  Reviewed and approved the Directors’ Remuneration 

Report;

•  Reviewed the Department for Business Innovation & Skills 

executive remuneration disclosure proposals and assessed 
the Company’s approach to compliance ahead of the 
changes which were enacted on 1 October 2013 and 
closely monitored guidance and directional themes from 
institutional bodies;

•  Reviewed the 2013 AGM voting and feedback from 

institutional investors;

•  Evaluated the Committee’s performance during the year; 

and

•  Reviewed the Committee’s terms of reference. 

Application of policy for year ending 31 December 2014

Salaries
The executive directors’ salaries for the 2014 financial year 
are set out in the table below:

Executive directors 

Nick McKittrick  

Peter Brooks-Johnson 

Robyn Perriss 

Salary 

Salary  

1 January 2014  

31 December 2013

£400,000 

£335,000 

£265,000 

£385,632

£289,224

£240,000

The above revised salaries were set to reflect the roles and 
responsibilities of each individual that became effective from 
1 May 2013. 

A decision was taken at the time of the Board changes 
that took place in May 2013 to recognise each individual’s 
revised role and responsibilities in full with effect from 
1 January 2014 (as opposed to the time of promotion in 
May 2013). This was due to the fact that the Committee had 
previously committed to operating a three year policy which 
included predetermined salary increases (in principle) for each 
position. Since this three year period has now ended, and 

noting the Committee’s objective of pre-consulting the 
Company’s major shareholders on remuneration policy for 
the next three year period prior to effecting changes for 2014 
which has now been concluded, these salary levels are 
considered appropriate. 

The revised salary levels were set after taking account 
of remuneration levels in FTSE250 companies and in light  
of the Company’s focus on below market fixed pay. 

The salary increase awarded to Nick McKittrick, the  
Chief Executive Officer, is considered by the Committee to  
be below the market rate for the role but influenced by the 
individual’s desire, for leadership reasons, to limit the salary 
increase to approximately inflation.

The salary increase for the new Chief Operating Officer 
(Peter Brooks-Johnson – promoted from Managing Director 
of rightmove.co.uk) reflects his wider Group responsibilities. 
Robyn Perriss’ salary was increased initially following her 
appointment to the Board as Finance Director, with a view to 
transitioning to the appropriate salary level, along with the 
other executive directors, with effect from 1 January 2014  
in light of her responsibilities.

Pension and other benefits
The Group operates a stakeholder pension plan for 
employees under which the employer contributes 6% of base 
salary, subject to the employee contributing a minimum of 3% 
of base salary. Nick McKittrick has chosen not to participate 
in this arrangement. The Company does not contribute to any 
personal pension arrangements. 

The executive directors are enrolled in the Group’s private 
medical insurance scheme and receive life assurance cover 
equal to four times base salary. Additionally, Nick McKittrick 
and Robyn Perriss are members of the Group’s medical 
cash plan.

Annual bonus
The annual bonus for the 2014 financial year will operate  
on the same basis as for the 2013 financial year and will  
be consistent with the policy detailed on page 41 of the 
Remuneration Policy section of this report in terms of 
maximum bonus opportunity, deferral and clawback 
provisions. The measures have been selected to reflect  
a range of financial and strategic targets that support the  
key objectives of the Company.

49

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

The performance measures and weightings will be as follows:

Underlying basic EPS growth  
from 2014 to 2016(1) 

% of award vesting 

(maximum 75%)

Measure 

As a % of maximum bonus opportunity

Less than 40% 

Financial targets

Underlying operating profit before tax(1) 

Strategic targets

Page impressions 
Innovation revenue 

70%

20% 
10%

(1)  Operating profit before share-based payments and NI on share-based 

incentives.

In relation to the financial target a challenging sliding scale  
will operate with 25% of the maximum bonus opportunity 
payable at the threshold underlying operating profit(1) target 
relative to 2014 business plan through to 100% becoming 
payable for significant outperformance relative to the plan.  
A greater proportion of the award will be paid for exceeding 
on-target performance.

The targets themselves, as they relate to the 2014 financial 

year, are deemed to be commercially sensitive. However, 
retrospective disclosure of the targets and performance 
against them will be provided in next year’s Annual Report  
on Remuneration to the extent that they do not remain 
commercially sensitive at the time.

Long-term incentives
To ensure that the Company’s total remuneration is 
competitive overall, following a wide reaching shareholder 
pre-consultation exercise, subject to achieving demanding 
performance targets, the award levels under the PSP will be 
increased to 200% of base salary for all executive directors.
Consistent with current market practice and previous 
years, awards to the executive directors under the PSP in 
2014 will be subject to a mixture of EPS (75% of awards)  
and relative TSR (25% of the awards) performance 
conditions. The 2014 targets are as follows:

EPS condition
The Group’s EPS growth will be measured over the period of 
three financial years (2014 to 2016). The EPS figure used will 
be equivalent to the Group’s basic underlying EPS (before 
share-based payments, National Insurance on share-based 
incentives and no related adjustment for tax). Reflecting the 
feedback received last year from some shareholders in 
relation to the Company’s 2013 awards, and with a view to 
ensuring appropriately stretching but achievable targets are 
set in light of market expectations for the Company, the 
following range of targets will apply to the 2014 awards:

50

40% 

70% 

0%

18.75%

75%

Between 40% and 70% 

Straight-line vesting

(1)  The benchmark underlying basic EPS for the financial year 2013 from which 

these targets will be measured is 81.04p. 

The range of factors considered by the Committee in setting 
these targets included, current market expectations for EPS 
growth for the Company, the growth aspirations of the Board, 
wider FTSE250 market practice and the prospects for the 
housing sector and the wider UK economy. 

Given that 2013 was another record year at Rightmove, 
the above range of targets run from a record high base EPS 
result. This provides even more demanding targets than had 
the above range of targets been set in prior years.

Relative TSR condition
The vesting schedule for the relative TSR element of executive 
directors’ 2014 PSP awards is set out below. It is consistent 
with the TSR condition used for previous grants under the 
share-based incentive schemes. Performance is measured 
over three financial years.

TSR performance of the Company  
relative to the FTSE250 Index(1) 

% of award vesting 

(maximum 25%)

Less than the Index 

Equal to the Index 

25% higher than the Index 

0%

6.25%

25%

Intermediate performance 

Straight-line vesting

(1)  If the FTSE250 Index’s TSR was 50% over the three year performance period, 
then the Company’s TSR would have to be at least 75% for all 25% of the 
PSP shares to vest.

Chairman and non-executive directors’ fees
In 2009, the Board decided to increase fees for the 
non-executive directors in future years annually, directly in 
line with the basic level of pay rise received by employees 
within the business until such time as it is considered 
appropriate to conduct a wider review of non-executive 
remuneration. Accordingly the Board approved an increase of 
3% to the annual fees payable to the non-executive directors. 
The Committee approved a 3% increase in the annual fees 
payable to the Chairman.

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The fees for the Chairman and non-executive directors for the 
2014 financial year are set out in the table below:

Salary 

Salary 

1 January 2014   31 December 2013  Change

Scott Forbes (Chairman) 

£114,747 

£111,405 

Jonathan Agnew 

Colin Kemp 

Ashley Martin 

Judy Vezmar 

Peter Williams(1) 

£57,373 

£45,899 

£51,636 

£45,899 

£45,899 

£55,702 

£44,562 

£50,132 

£44,562 

– 

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

–

(1)  Peter Williams’ base salary will be pro-rated to reflect his appointment to the 

Board on 3 February 2014.

The basic non-executive fee has been set at £45,899 
(2012: £44,562) with an additional £5,737 (2012: £5,570)  
fee per annum paid for the chairing of the Audit and 
Remuneration Committees. Jonathan Agnew is paid  
a £5,737 (2012: £5,570) fee per annum as the Senior 
Independent Director.

Statement of shareholding voting at AGM
At the 2013 AGM, the Directors’ Remuneration Report 
received the following votes from shareholders:

Following the 2013 AGM, the Committee consulted 
extensively with major shareholders in advance of the 2014 
Directors’ Remuneration Report and, at the same time as 
amending a number of remuneration practices, we have also 
improved our disclosures to better enable other shareholders 
to take a fully informed view on the proposed remuneration 
framework and practices at the Company.

Review of past performance

Share price performance
In 2013, the Company’s share price ended the year at £27.40 
up 91% year on year (the FTSE250 Index was up 29%). On a 
three year basis the share price has more than trebled and 
has significantly outperformed the FTSE250 Index over that 
period as shown in the graphs on page 52.

Total shareholder return (TSR)
The first graph overleaf compares the TSR of Rightmove’s 
shares against the FTSE250 Index for the period from 
1 January 2011 to 31 December 2013. TSR is the product  
of movements in the share price plus dividends reinvested  
on the ex-dividend date. TSR provides a useful, widely used 
benchmark to illustrate the Company’s performance over the 
last three years. Specifically, it illustrates the value of £100 
invested in Rightmove’s shares and in the FTSE250 Index 
over that period. 

Total number of votes  % votes cast

As required by the Act, the Company’s TSR performance 

For 

Against 

60,550,491 

78.11%

16,956,858 

21.88%

Chairman’s discretion 

9,119 

0.01%

Total votes cast (for and against) 

77,516,468 

100.00%

Votes withheld(1) 

992,173 

Total votes cast (including withheld votes)  78,508,641 

–

–

is required to be shown against a recognised broad-based 
share index. The FTSE250 Index was chosen as the 
comparator because Rightmove is a current constituent of 
this index. It was used as a comparator in the performance 
condition applying to PSP awards in previous years and it  
will also be used as the criteria applied to 25% of the PSP 
awards to be granted in March 2014.

(1)  A vote withheld is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of the 

proportion of votes cast ‘For’ and ‘Against’ a resolution.

In line with the Company’s commitment to ongoing dialogue 
with its shareholders, meetings are offered, where 
appropriate, to understand the reasons for any potential or 
actual opposition to the Company’s Remuneration Policy. 
Changes are made to our policy where it is considered 
appropriate to do so. 

51

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

TSR graph – 3 years

TSR graph – 5 years

i

e
v
o
m
t
h
g
R
o
t
d
e
s
a
b
e
R

£

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

266%

50%

0
1

c
e
D

1
1

r
p
A

1
1

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3
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i

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v
o
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t
h
g
R
o
t
d
e
s
a
b
e
R

£

1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

280

400

200

0

159%

226%
change

188%

35%
change

8
0

c
e
D

9
0

r
a
M

9
0

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u

j

9
0
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9
0

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3
1
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S

3
1

c
e
D

Rightmove

FTSE250

Source: Thomson Reuters

Rightmove

FTSE250

Source: Thomson Reuters

This graph shows the value, by 31 December 2013, of £100 invested in Rightmove on 
31 December 2010, compared with the value of £100 invested in the FTSE250 Index, 
on a daily basis.

This graph shows the value, by 31 December 2013, of £100 invested in Rightmove on 
31 December 2008, compared with the value of £100 invested in the FTSE250 Index, 
on a daily basis.

Total remuneration for the Chief Executive Officer
The table below shows the total remuneration figure for the Chief Executive Officer over a five year performance period.  
The total remuneration figure includes the annual bonus and long-term incentive awards which vested based on performance 
in those years:

Year 

2013 

2012 

2011 

2010 

2009 

Executive 

Nick McKittrick 
Ed Williams(1) 

Ed Williams 

Ed Williams 

Ed Williams 

Ed Williams 

Total single figure 

bonus outturn 

incentive outturn  

£ 

 (% of maximum)  

(% of maximum)

Annual 

Long-term 

2,199,335 
1,531,515 

2,219,882 

4,934,942 

652,800 

627,641 

85% 
n/a 

90% 

100% 

100% 

100% 

100% 
100%

100%

100%

–(2)

–(2)

(1) Ed Williams was Chief Executive Officer until his retirement on 30 April 2013. Nick McKittrick was appointed Chief Executive Officer at this time.
(2)  The table above includes share-based incentive awards in the period that the associated performance conditions, excluding service conditions are satisfied. 

Certain pre-float share option awards prior to 2006, which had only service conditions and no performance conditions would have been included in the single 
figure remuneration table in the year of grant in accordance with Schedule 8 of the Act. The table above therefore excludes the following amounts of awards with 
no performance conditions, which vested in 2009 and 2010 of £2,026,674 and £4,151,532 respectively.

52

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Directors’ remuneration (audited)
The remuneration of the directors of the Company during the year for time served as a director is as follows:

Fixed pay 

Performance related pay

Salary 

Benefits(1) 

Pension 

£ 

£ 

£ 

Fixed pay 

subtotal 

£ 

Annual 
bonus(4) 

£ 

Long-term 

incentives 

(PSPs)(5) 

£ 

Performance 

Total  
related pay  remuneration  
in 2013  

subtotal 

£ 

£

Executive directors

Nick McKittrick 

Peter Brooks-Johnson 

385,632 

289,224 

1,690 

1,685 

 – 

387,322 

409,734  1,402,279  1,812,013  2,199,335

3,000 

293,909 

307,300 

674,180 

981,480  1,275,389

Robyn Perriss 

160,000(2) 

1,112 

2,000 

163,112 

170,000 

169,904(6) 

339,904 

503,015

Former executive director 

Ed Williams 

128,544(3) 

692 

 –  

129,236 

–  1,402,279  1,402,279  1,531,515

Non-executive directors 

Scott Forbes 

Jonathan Agnew 

Colin Kemp 

Ashley Martin 

Judy Vezmar 

111,405 

55,702 

44,562 

50,132 

44,562 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

111,405 

55,702 

44,562 

50,132 

44,562 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

111,405

55,702

44,562

50,132

44,562

(1)  Benefits in kind for the executive directors relate to private medical insurance and the medical cash plan.
(2)  Robyn Perriss received a salary of £160,000 for her eight month period as an executive director from 1 May 2013 to 31 December 2013. 
(3)  Ed Williams received a salary of £128,544 for the four month period from 1 January 2013 to 30 April 2013, until his resignation as a director.
(4)  The annual bonus amount relates to the accrued payment in respect of the full year results for the year ended 31 December 2013 including the  

deferred element of 60%. 

(5)  The value of the nil cost PSPs vesting is calculated by taking the number of nil cost options expected to vest in March 2014 (including dividend roll up),  
which are dependent on the three year performance period ended 31 December 2013 and multiplying by the year end closing share price of £27.40.

(6)  These relate to nil cost PSPs granted to Robyn Perriss prior to her appointment as director, which are expected to vest in March 2014 which are dependent  

on the three year performance period ended 31 December 2013 and multiplying by the year end closing share price of £27.40.

53

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

Fixed pay 

Performance related pay

Salary 

Benefits(1) 

Pension 

Executive directors 

Ed Williams 

Nick McKittrick 

Peter Brooks-Johnson 

Non-executive directors 

Scott Forbes 

Jonathan Agnew 

Colin Kemp 

Ashley Martin 

Judy Vezmar 

£ 

£ 

318,240 

318,240 

245,000 

1,576 

1,391 

1,185 

108,160 

54,080 

43,264 

48,672 

43,264 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Fixed pay 

subtotal 

£ 

Annual 
bonus(2) 

Long-term 
incentives(3) 

related pay  remuneration

subtotal 

in 2012  

£ 

£ 

£ 

£

  Performance 

Total  

319,816 

429,624  1,470,442  1,900,066  2,219,882

319,631 

429,624  1,286,640  1,716,264  2,035,895

£ 

– 

– 

3,000 

249,185 

330,750 

592,272 

923,022  1,172,207

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

108,160 

54,080 

43,264 

48,672 

43,264 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

108,160

54,080

43,264

48,672

43,264

(1)  Benefits in kind for the executive directors relate to private medical insurance (all directors) and the medical cash plan for Nick McKittrick.
(2)  The annual bonus amounts relate to the cash amount paid in respect of the full year results for the year ended 31 December 2012 and the nil cost deferred shares 

granted in March 2013, which have been valued using the share price at grant date of £17.93.

(3)  This relates to the 2010 unapproved share options granted which vested in March 2013 based on the satisfaction of performance criteria for the three year period 

ended 31 December 2012. These options were granted at £6.66 and have been valued using the share price at grant date of £17.93.

Payment for loss of office
Ed Williams retired as Chief Executive Officer on 30 April 2013. As detailed in the 2012 Remuneration Report the Committee 
had determined that he would not be entitled to receive a bonus for 2013 due to his service terminating prior to the end of the 
relevant performance period. Under the discretion afforded by the Committee under the rules of the relevant plans he was 
treated as a ‘good leaver’. In respect of his DSP awards, this will result in these vesting in full on the normal vesting dates. His 
2011 PSP award will vest in full on the normal vesting date (March 2014) based on the performance targets having been met  
in full over the three year performance period ended 31 December 2013. In respect of his 2012 PSP award this will result in, 
following the application of a pro-rata reduction to reflect the proportion of the vesting period elapsed until the date of 
retirement, the award vesting in March 2015 to the extent to which the performance targets are met over the performance 
period. After applying the pro-rata reduction, the maximum proportion of the 2012 PSP award that will be eligible to vest is 36% 
of the original award. 

To the extent that any vested share options remained unexercised on his retirement, Ed Williams retained a 12 month 

window within which the options could be exercised. There were no other payments made in respect of Ed Williams’ retirement. 

Defined contribution pension
The Group operates a stakeholder pension plan for employees under which the employer contributes 6% of base salary (to a 
maximum of £3,000) subject to the employee contributing a minimum of 3% of base salary. Ed Williams and Nick McKittrick 
chose to not participate in this arrangement. Peter Brooks-Johnson and Robyn Perriss are members of the stakeholder 
pension plan and during 2013 the Company contributed £3,000 and £2,000 per annum respectively. The Company does  
not contribute to any personal pension arrangements.

54

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
How was pay linked to performance in 2013?

Annual bonus plan
The incentive for the financial year ended 31 December 2013 was in the form of a cash bonus of up to 50% of salary (reduced 
from 55% in 2012) and a DSP bonus of up to 75% of salary (reduced from 95% in 2012). The bonus (both cash and DSP 
elements) was determined by a mixture of underlying operating profit performance (70%) and key performance indicators (30%) 
relating to underlying drivers of long-term revenue growth.

When comparing performance against the 2013 bonus targets set, the Committee determined that 85% of the maximum 
achievable cash and DSP bonus should be paid to the executive directors. Accordingly a cash bonus of 42.5% of base salary 
will be paid to the executives and 63.75% of base salary will be granted to the executives under the DSP, which will be deferred 
until March 2016. More details are provided in the table below:

Performance hurdle 

Growth in underlying operating profit of between 8% (25% payout) and 16%  
(100% payout) over 2012. 

Achieving 81% market share among the top three UK property portals was worth  
6.25%, with a further 6.25% for each 1% above 81% market share to a maximum  
of 25% at 84% market share. 

Customer retention  

Total 

Long-term incentives
The PSP awards granted in May 2011 were subject to EPS 
(75% of the awards) and relative TSR (25% of the awards) 
performance conditions which related to the three year period 
ended 31 December 2013. 

The vesting schedule for the relative TSR element of 
executive directors’ 2011 PSP awards is set out below:

Relative TSR condition 

Less than the Index 

Equal to the Index 

25% higher than the Index 

% of award vesting 

 (maximum 25%)

0%

6.25%

25%

Intermediate performance 

Straight-line vesting

At the end of the performance period, Rightmove’s TSR was 
266% compared to 50% for the FTSE250 Index.  
As this level of outperformance is more than 25%, these 
options will vest in full from 4 March 2014.

Rightmove’s EPS growth is measured over a period of 
three financial years (2011 to 2013). The EPS figure used is 
equivalent to Rightmove’s reported diluted underlying EPS 
but with a standard UK tax rate applied (Normalised EPS) 
and the vesting schedule is set out to the right:

Actual 
performance 
achieved 

Actual 
growth 
was 18.8%

81% 
market 
 share 

All major 
customers 
retained

Total bonus 
% of base salary 

87.5% 

25% 

12.5% 

125% 

Resulting  
bonus outturn   

% of base salary

87.5% 

6.25% 

12.5% 

106.25%

% of award vesting 

 (maximum 75%)

0%

18.75%

75%

Normalised EPS growth  

from 2011 to 2013 

Less than 25% 

25% 

50% 

Between 25% and 50% 

Straight-line vesting

At the end of the performance period, Normalised EPS 
growth over the three year performance period was 99% 
and the options will vest in full from 4 March 2014.

Share awards granted during the year
On 8 March 2013 Nick McKittrick, Peter Brooks-Johnson 
and Robyn Perriss were awarded shares under the PSP, 
which vest in March 2016, and are subject to a mixture 
of EPS (75% of the awards) and relative TSR (25% of the 
awards) performance with the greater weighting on EPS  
to reflect its particular relevance to the performance of  
the business. 

55

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

Executive 

Nick McKittrick 

Peter Brooks-Johnson 

Robyn Perriss 

Basis of grant 

Number of shares 

Face value of award(1) 

  150% of base salary 

  150% of base salary 

  150% of base salary 

32,279 

24,210 

14,928(2) 

£578,440

£433,843

£267,510

(1)  Based on the average mid market share price of £17.92 for the three consecutive days prior to grant, taken from the Official Daily List.
(2)  Comprises 1,535 PSPs granted in her capacity as Financial Controller prior to being appointed Finance Director and 13,393 PSPs in relation to her pro-rata salary 

of £160,000 for the eight month period from 1 May 2013 to 31 December 2013.

The vesting schedule for the relative TSR element of 
executive directors’ 2013 PSP awards is set out below. It is 
consistent with the TSR condition used for previous grants 
under the share option scheme. Performance will be 
measured over three financial years.

Rightmove’s EPS growth will be measured over a period of 
three financial years (2013-2015). The EPS figure used will 
be equivalent to the Normalised EPS. 

The following vesting schedule will apply for executive 

directors’ awards granted in 2013:

Relative TSR condition 

Less than the Index 

Equal to the Index 

25% higher than the Index 

% of award vesting 

Normalised EPS growth  

 (maximum 25%)

from 2013 to 2015 

0%

Less than 22.5% 

6.25%

22.5% 

25%

40% 

% of award vesting 

 (maximum 75%)

0%

18.75%

75%

Intermediate performance 

Straight-line vesting

Between 22.5% and 40% 

Straight-line vesting

Assuming no change in the enacted corporation tax rate of 
24% before the end of the three year performance period, 
the benchmark Normalised EPS for the financial year 2012 
from which these growth targets will be measured is 63.01p.

56

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
Share-based incentives held by the directors and not exercised as at 31 December 2013

Executive directors

Nick McKittrick  

  Share-based 
  incentives held 
1 January 
2013 

Date 
granted 

Granted 
in year 

Exercise 
price 

Exercised 
in year 

Average 
share 
price at 
date of 
exercise 

Share-based 
incentives held at
 31 December 
2013 

Vesting 
date 

Expiry
date

14/3/2006 
(Approved) 

15/3/2006 
(Unapproved) 

10/10/2007 
(Unapproved) 

5/3/2009 
(Unapproved) 

1/10/2009 
(Sharesave) 

5/3/2010 
(Unapproved) 

4/3/2011 
(DSP) 

4/5/2011 
(PSP) 

2/3/2012 
(DSP) 

2/3/2012 
(PSP) 

1/10/2012 
(Sharesave) 

8/3/2013 
(DSP) 

8/3/2013 
(PSP) 

6,000 

– 

£4.10 

(6,000)(1) 

£23.64 

200,000 

– 

£3.35  (200,000)(1) 

£23.64 

Between 
  14/3/2009 &  
– 

14/3/2011  13/3/2016

Between 
  15/3/2009 & 
– 

 15/3/2011  14/3/2016

75,000 

– 

£5.22 

(75,000)(2) 

£23.64 

– 

15/3/2011  9/10/2017

279,755 

– 

£2.24 

– 

– 

279,755(3) 

5/3/2012 

4/3/2019

2,135 

– 

£4.25 

(2,135)(4) 

£17.96 

– 

1/11/2012  30/4/2013

114,165 

– 

£6.66 

– 

– 

114,165(5) 

5/3/2013 

4/3/2020

29,199 

– 

£0.00 

(29,199)(6) 

£23.64 

– 

4/3/2013 

3/3/2014

49,289 

– 

£0.00 

20,183 

– 

 £0.00 

39,303 

– 

 £0.00 

694 

–  £12.95 

– 

15,184(11)  £0.00 

– 

32,279(12)  £0.00 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

49,289(7) 

4/3/2014 

3/3/2016

20,183(8) 

2/3/2014 

1/3/2015

39,303(9) 

2/3/2015 

1/3/2017

694(10)  1/11/2015  30/4/2016

15,184 

8/3/2015 

7/3/2016

32,279 

8/3/2016 

7/3/2018

Total 

815,723 

47,463 

  (312,334) 

550,852 

57

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

Share-based incentives held by the directors and not exercised as at 31 December 2013 continued

  Share-based 
  incentives held 
1 January 
2013 

Date 
granted 

Granted 
in year 

Exercise 
price 

Exercised 
in year 

Average 
share 
price at 
date of 
exercise 

Share-based 
incentives held at
 31 December 
2013 

Vesting 
date 

Expiry
date

Peter Brooks-Johnson 

Total 

Robyn Perriss 

14/3/2006 
(Approved) 

10/10/2007 
(Unapproved) 

5/3/2009 
(Unapproved) 

1/10/2009 
(Sharesave) 

5/3/2010 
(Unapproved) 

4/3/2011 
(DSP) 

4/5/2011 
(PSP) 

2/3/2012 
(DSP) 

2/3/2012 
(PSP) 

1/10/2012 
(Sharesave) 

8/3/2013 
(DSP) 

8/3/2013 
(PSP) 

4/5/2011 
(PSP) 

3/10/2011 
(Sharesave) 

2/3/2012 
(DSP) 

2/3/2012 
(PSP) 

8/3/2013 
(DSP) 

8/3/2013 
(PSP) 

2,439 

– 

£4.10 

75,000 

– 

£5.22 

139,286 

– 

£2.24 

– 

– 

– 

Between 
  14/3/2009 & 

2,439(1)  14/3/2011  13/3/2016

75,000(2)  15/3/2011  9/10/2017

139,286(3) 

5/3/2012 

 4/3/2019

– 

– 

– 

2,135 

– 

£4.25 

(2,135)(4) 

£17.96 

– 

1/11/2012  30/4/2013

52,553 

– 

£6.66 

– 

– 

52,553(5) 

5/3/2013 

 4/3/2020

18,393 

– 

£0.00 

(18,393)(6) 

£23.64 

– 

4/3/2013 

 3/3/2014

23,697 

– 

£0.00 

14,114 

– 

 £0.00 

25,935 

– 

 £0.00 

694 

–  £12.95 

– 

11,689(11)   £0.00 

– 

24,210(12)  £0.00 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

354,246 

35,899 

(20,528) 

5,972 

– 

£0.00 

910 

– 

£9.88 

2,668 

– 

 £0.00 

5,086 

– 

 £0.00 

– 

2,172(11)  £0.00 

– 

14,928(12)  £0.00 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

23,697(7) 

4/3/2014 

 3/3/2016

14,114(8) 

2/3/2014 

1/3/2015

25,935(9) 

2/3/2015 

1/3/2017

694(10)  1/11/2015  30/4/2016

11,689 

8/3/2015 

7/3/2016

24,210 

8/3/2016 

7/3/2018

369,617 

5,972(7) 

4/3/2014 

 3/3/2016

910(13)  1/11/2014  30/4/2015

2,668(8) 

2/3/2014 

1/3/2015

5,086(9) 

2/3/2015 

1/3/2017

2,172 

8/3/2015 

7/3/2016

14,928 

8/3/2016 

7/3/2018

Total 

14,636 

17,100 

31,736 

58

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Share-based incentives held by the directors and not exercised as at 31 December 2013 continued
Former executive director

  Share-based 
  incentives held 
1 January 
2013 

Date 
granted 

Granted 
in year 

Exercise 
price 

Exercised 
in year 

Average 
share 
price at 
date of 
exercise 

Share-based 
incentives held at
 31 December 
2013 

Vesting 
date 

Expiry
date

Ed Williams  

14/3/2006 
 (Approved) 

15/3/2006 

7,317 

– 

£4.10 

(7,317)(1) 

£19.10 

(Unapproved)  1,381,412 

– 

£3.35  (1,381,412)(1) 

£19.38 

Between 
  14/3/2009 & 
– 

 14/3/2011  13/3/2016

Between 
  15/3/2009 & 
– 

 15/3/2011  14/3/2016

5/3/2009 
(Unapproved) 

1/10/2009 
(Sharesave) 

5/3/2010 
(Unapproved) 

4/3/2011 
(DSP) 

4/5/2011 
(PSP) 

2/3/2012 
(DSP) 

2/3/2012 
(PSP) 

8/3/2013 
(DSP) 

373,007 

– 

£2.24 

(373,007)(3) 

£19.14 

– 

5/3/2012 

4/3/2019

2,135 

– 

£4.25 

(2,135)(4) 

£17.96 

– 

1/11/2012  30/4/2013

130,474 

– 

£6.66 

(130,474)(5) 

£19.12 

29,199 

–  

£0.00 

(29,199)(6) 

£19.12 

– 

– 

5/3/2013 

4/3/2020

4/3/2013 

3/3/2014

49,289 

– 

 £0.00 

20,183 

–  

 £0.00 

14,193 

– 

 £0.00 

– 

15,184(11)  £0.00 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

49,289(7) 

4/3/2014 

3/3/2016

20,183(8) 

2/3/2014 

1/3/2015

14,193(9) 

2/3/2015 

1/3/2017

15,184 

8/3/2015 

7/3/2016

Total 

  2,007,209 

15,184 

  (1,923,544) 

98,849 

  Share-based 
  incentives held 
1 January 
2013 

Date 
granted 

Granted 
in year 

Exercise 
price 

Exercised 
in year 

Average 
Share 
price at 
date of 
exercise 

Share-based 
incentives held at
 31 December 
2013 

Vesting 
date 

Expiry
date

Non-executive director

Scott Forbes 

15/3/2006 
(Unapproved)  

388,729 

– 

£3.35  (388,729)(14) 

£20.84 

Between 
  15/3/2007 & 
– 

 15/3/2009  14/3/2016

(1)   In March 2006, 1,981,412, 987,047 and 257,847 pre-admission options were granted to Ed Williams, Nick McKittrick and Peter Brooks-Johnson under the 
Rightmove Unapproved Executive Share Option Plan and 7,317 pre-admission options were granted to each of the executive directors under the Rightmove 
Approved Executive Share Option Plan. The options vested as to one third of the number of option shares on each of the third, fourth and fifth anniversaries of  
the date of the option grant. 
 Nick McKittrick exercised 200,000 pre-admission unapproved options and 6,000 approved options in October 2013 and sold all the shares immediately on 
exercise at a market value of £23.64 per share. 
 Ed Williams exercised 1,381,412 pre-admission unapproved options and 7,317 approved options in May 2013 and sold all the shares immediately on exercise 
at an average market value of £19.38 and £19.10 per share respectively.
 Of the 2,439 pre-admission approved options outstanding for Peter Brooks-Johnson as at 31 December 2013, all options have vested and are eligible for exercise. 

(2)   The unapproved options granted on 10 October 2007 were exercisable from 15 March 2011 at an exercise price of £5.22.  

Nick McKittrick exercised 75,000 unapproved options in October 2013 and sold all the shares immediately on exercise at a market value of £23.64 per share.  
Of the 75,000 unapproved options outstanding for Peter Brooks-Johnson as at 31 December 2013, all options have vested and are eligible for exercise.

59

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

(3)    The options granted on 5 March 2009 were exercisable from 5 March 2012 at an exercise price of £2.24, subject to TSR performance criteria which were met in full.

 Ed Williams exercised 373,007 unapproved options in May 2013 and sold all the shares immediately on exercise at an average market value of £19.14  
per share.
 Of the 279,755 and 139,286 unapproved options outstanding for Nick McKittrick and Peter Brooks-Johnson respectively as at 31 December 2013, all options 
have vested and are eligible for exercise.

(4)    The Sharesave options were granted in October 2009 at an exercise price of £4.25 and were exercisable from 1 November 2012.

 Nick McKittrick exercised 2,135 Sharesave options in April 2013 and sold 785 shares immediately on exercise at a market value of £17.96 per share.
Peter Brooks-Johnson and Ed Williams both exercised 2,135 Sharesave options in April 2013 and retained the shares.

(5)    The unapproved options granted on 5 March 2010 were exercisable from 5 March 2013 at an exercise price of £6.66 subject to the relative TSR and Normalised 

EPS growth performance conditions which were met in full.
 Ed Williams exercised 130,474 unapproved options in May 2013 and sold all the shares immediately on exercise at an average market value of £19.12 per share.

(6)   On 4 March 2011 the executive directors were awarded nil cost deferred shares under the DSP, which vested in full from 4 March 2013. The closing share price 

on the date of grant was £9.59. 
Nick McKittrick exercised 29,199 deferred shares in October 2013 and sold all the shares immediately on exercise at a market value of £23.64 per share.
 Peter Brooks-Johnson exercised 18,393 deferred shares in October 2013 and sold all the shares immediately on exercise at a market value of £23.64 per share.
Ed Williams exercised 29,199 deferred shares in May 2013 and sold all the shares immediately on exercise at an average market value of £19.12 per share.

(7)   On 4 May 2011, the executive directors were awarded nil cost options under the PSP, which vest in 2014 and were subject to a mixture of EPS and relative TSR 

performance which was met in full as described on pages 55 to 56.

(8)   On 2 March 2012, Ed Williams, Nick McKittrick, Peter Brooks-Johnson and Robyn Perriss were awarded 20,183, 20,183, 14,114 and 2,668 deferred shares 
respectively under the DSP, which vest in 2014. The average mid market share price for the three consecutive preceding days taken from the Official Daily List 
and used to calculate the number of shares awarded was £14.17.

(9)    On 2 March 2012, Ed Williams, Nick McKittrick, Peter Brooks-Johnson and Robyn Perriss were awarded 39,303, 39,303, 25,935 and 5,086 shares respectively 
under the PSP, which vest in 2015 and are subject to a mixture of EPS (75% of the award) and relative TSR (25% of the awards) performance with the greater 
weighting on EPS to reflect its particular relevance to the performance of the business. The average mid market share price for the three consecutive preceding 
days taken from the Official Daily List and used to calculate the number of shares awarded was £14.17. 

 25,110 of Ed Williams’ PSPs were forfeited in 2012 in accordance with his retirement arrangements as set out on page 54 under which the 2012 award was 
pro-rated to reflect the proportion of the vesting period lapsed at the date of retirement. Accordingly, the schedule above reflects the net position of 14,193 shares.
 The vesting schedule for the relative TSR element of executive directors’ 2012 PSP awards is set out below. It is consistent with the TSR condition used for 
previous grants under the share option scheme. Performance will be measured over three financial years.

Relative TSR condition 

Less than the Index 
Equal to the Index 
25% higher than the Index 
Intermediate performance 

% of award vesting (maximum 25%)

0%
6.25%
25%
Straight-line vesting

Rightmove’s EPS growth will be measured over a period of three financial years (2012 to 2014). The EPS figure used will be equivalent to the Normalised EPS. 

The following vesting schedule will apply for executive directors’ awards granted in 2012:

Normalised EPS growth from 2012 to 2014 

% of award vesting (maximum 75%)

Less than 30% 
30% 
50% 
Between 30% and 50% 

0%
18.75%
75%
Straight-line vesting

 Assuming no change in the enacted corporation tax rate of 24% before the end of the three year performance period, the benchmark Normalised EPS for the 
financial year 2011 from which these growth targets will be measured is 47.5p.

(10)  On 1 November 2012, Nick McKittrick and Peter Brooks-Johnson were granted 694 Sharesave options. The options vest in 2015 and have an exercise price  

of £12.95.

(11)  On 8 March 2013, following achievement of the 2012 annual bonus targets, Nick McKittrick, Peter Brooks-Johnson, Robyn Perriss and Ed Williams were granted 
15,184, 11,689, 2,172 and 15,184 nil cost deferred shares respectively under the DSP, which vest in 2015. The average mid market share price for the three 
consecutive preceding days taken from the Official Daily List and used to calculate the number of shares awarded was £17.92.

(12)  On 8 March 2013 Nick McKittrick, Peter Brooks-Johnson and Robyn Perriss were awarded 32,279, 24,210 and 14,928 shares respectively under the PSP, which 

vest in 2016, further details are described on pages 55 to 56. 

(13)  In November 2011 prior to her appointment as Finance Director, Robyn Perriss was granted 910 Sharesave options. The options vest in 2014 and have an 

exercise price of £9.88.

(14)  Pre-admission unapproved options granted to Scott Forbes in March 2006 under the Rightmove Unapproved Executive Share Option Plan, vested as to one third 

of the number of option shares on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of the date of the option grant. 

 Scott Forbes exercised 250,000 of the vested pre-admission unapproved options in April 2013 and sold all the shares immediately on exercise at an average 
market value of £18.01 per share. He exercised and sold the remaining 138,729 options in November 2013 at an average market value of £25.94. The average 
share price achieved for all options exercised in the year was £20.84.

60

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dilution
All existing executive share-based incentives can be satisfied from shares held in the Rightmove Employees’ Share Trust (EBT) 
and shares held in treasury. It is intended that the 2014 share-based incentive awards will also be settled from shares currently 
held in the EBT or from shares held in treasury without any requirement to issue further shares.

Directors’ interests in shares
The interests (both beneficial and family interests) of the directors in office at 31 December 2013 in the share capital of the 
Company were as follows:

Executive directors

Nick McKittrick 

Peter Brooks-Johnson 

Robyn Perriss 

Non-executive directors 

Scott Forbes  

Jonathan Agnew  

Ashley Martin 

Judy Vezmar  

Interests in 

Interests in 

ordinary shares of £0.01 

share-based incentives 

At  
31 December 2013 

At  

1 January 2013  

Outstanding 

PSP & DSP 

awards 

(unvested) 

Outstanding 

Options 

(unvested)  

130,350 

129,000 

156,238 

15,016 

12,881 

– 

– 

99,645 

30,826 

619,300 

619,300 

5,000 

2,060 

5,000 

2,060 

16,343 

16,343 

– 

– 

– 

– 

694 

694 

910 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Outstanding 

Options 

(vested but 

unexercised)

393,920

269,278

–

–

–

–

–

•  The Company’s shares in issue (including 2,505,430 shares held in treasury) as at 31 December 2013 comprised 103,115,735 (2012: 105,896,115) ordinary  

shares of £0.01 each.

•  The mid market share price of the Company was £14.52 as at 2 January 2013 (the first day of trading in 2013) and was £27.40 as at 31 December 2013 (the last 

day of trading in 2013). These were also the lowest and highest share prices respectively during the year.

•  The executive directors are regarded as being interested, for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, in 740,398 (2012: 3,404,029) ordinary shares of £0.01 each 

in the Company currently held by the EBT as they are, together with other employees, potential beneficiaries of the EBT.

•  The directors’ beneficial holdings represent 0.8% of the Company’s shares in issue as at 31 December 2013 (2012: 0.9%) (excluding shares held in treasury).

• There have been no changes to the above interests between the year end and the date of this report.

Executive director share awards guidelines are set out in the Policy Report on page 42. The interests of the executive directors 
in office at 31 December 2013 in the share capital of the Company as a percentage of base salary were as follows:

Executive directors 

Nick McKittrick 

Peter Brooks-Johnson 

Robyn Perriss 

Number of 

Value of  

Base salary 

shares held at 

Value of shares at 

shares as a %  

1 January 2014 

31 December 2013 

31 December 2013 

of base salary

£400,000 

£335,000 

£265,000 

130,350 

£3,571,590 

15,016 

£411,438 

– 

– 

893

123

–

61

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Governance | Directors’ remuneration report continued 

Percentage increase in the remuneration of the Chief Executive Officer
The table below shows the movement in the salary, benefits and annual bonus for the Chief Executive Officer between the 
current and previous financial year compared to that of the total amounts for all employees of the Group for each of these 
elements of pay.

Chief Executive Officer

Salary 

Benefits 

Annual bonus 

Average of all employees 
Salary 

Benefits 

Annual bonus 

2013 
£ 

2012 

£ 

% change

385,632 

318,240 

1,690 

1,391 

409,734 

429,624 

42,317 

41,166 

761 

3,056 

597 

3,135 

21%

21%

(5%)

3%

27%

(3%)

Relative importance of the spend on pay
The table below shows the total pay for all of Rightmove’s employees compared to other key financial indicators. Additional 
information on the number of employees, total revenue and underlying operating profit has been provided for context.

Employee costs (refer Note 7) 

Dividends to shareholders (refer Note 12) 

Purchase of own shares (refer Note 22) 

Income tax (refer Note 10) 

Average number of employees (refer Note 7) 

Revenue 

Underlying operating profit(1) 

(1) Before share-based payments and NI on share-based incentives.

Year ended  
31 December 2013 

Year ended 

31 December 2012 

% change

£19,218,000 

£17,540,000 

£25,126,000 

£20,439,000 

£60,537,000 

£66,359,000 

£22,680,000 

£20,642,000 

349 

325 

£139,935,000 

£119,365,000 

£103,962,000 

£87,533,000 

10%

23%

(9%)

10%

7%

17%

19%

External directorships
During his period as a director, Ed Williams (former Chief Executive Officer), held a non-executive director role at Trader Media 
Group for which he received fees of £10,000, which were donated directly to charity. No other executive directors held any 
non-executive roles during the year.

62

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Governance | Independent auditor’s report to the members of Rightmove plc  

Opinions and conclusions arising from our audit

•  Our response: Our audit procedures included, among 

1. Our opinion on the financial statements is unmodified
We have audited the financial statements of Rightmove plc for 
the year ended 31 December 2013 set out on pages 66 to 
103. In our opinion: 
•  the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state 
of the Group’s and of the parent Company’s affairs as at  
31 December 2013 and of the Group’s profit for the year 
then ended; 

•  the Group financial statements have been properly prepared 

in accordance with International Financial Reporting 
Standards as adopted by the European Union (IFRSs as 
adopted by the EU); 

•  the parent Company financial statements have been 

properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by 
the EU and as applied in accordance with the provisions of 
the Companies Act 2006; and 

•  the financial statements have been prepared in accordance 
with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and, as 
regards the Group financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS 
Regulation. 

2. Our assessment of risks of material misstatement
In arriving at our audit opinion above on the financial 
statements, the risks of material misstatement that had the 
greatest effect on our audit were as follows:

Revenue recognition (£139,935,000)
Refer to page 30 (Corporate Governance Report), page 77 
(accounting policy) and pages 80 to 81 (financial disclosures)
•  The risk: Revenue primarily consists of subscription fees 

and spend on additional advertising products in respect of 
properties listed on rightmove.co.uk, and is recognised over 
the period of subscription and as additional advertising 
products are used. Individual contracts exist with each 
customer, which include a variety of differing terms and 
conditions. In addition Rightmove operate a number of 
membership offers during the year, some of which include 
discounted or free periods. Given these complexities we 
consider a significant risk exists in relation to revenue, 
specifically that the billing of customers is in line with the 
appropriate contract and that membership incentives are 
recognised in the period to which they relate.

others, testing management’s controls in place over the 
billing of customers in line with contract terms. For the most 
significant revenue streams we performed detailed analytical 
procedures using computer assisted audit techniques to 
analyse the amounts billed to customers by product in order 
to identify trends and investigate any anomalies and outliers. 
We inspected significant contracts signed in the year on a 
sample basis, to assess whether revenue has been 
recognised in accordance with the specific contract terms 
and conditions and relevant accounting standards. For new 
membership offers operated during the year we assessed 
the impact of discounts or free periods by inspecting details 
of the membership contracts and subscription numbers for 
the year. We assessed the appropriateness of deferred 
revenue at the period end with reference to subscription fee 
billings in December and consideration of specific product 
deferrals, where amounts are billed in advance but revenue 
recognition deferred until use or expiry. We also considered 
the adequacy of the Group’s accounting policy and 
disclosures (see Notes 1, 2 and 5) in respect of revenue 
recognition, and whether disclosures properly reflect the 
risks inherent in recognising revenue.

Share-based incentives and related deferred tax  
balances £2,408,000 and £5,338,000 respectively
Refer to page 31 (Corporate Governance Report),  
pages 76 to 78 (accounting policy) and page 92 to 93;  
96 to 100 (financial disclosures)
•  The risk: The Group provides share-based incentive plans 
allowing executive directors and other selected senior 
management to acquire shares in the parent Company. 
Each scheme differs based on the terms of the scheme with 
varying levels of complexity. The choice of valuation 
methodology and the inputs used to calculate the initial fair 
value for new grants is one of the key judgemental areas of 
our audit. In view of the materiality of the amounts involved, 
the sensitivity of these amounts to a change in the 
assumptions used and the complexities of calculating the 
share-based incentive charge and related deferred tax 
balances, this is deemed to be an area of significant risk.

63

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Governance | Independent auditor’s report to the members of Rightmove plc continued

•  Our response: In this area our audit procedures included, 

4.  Our opinion on other matters prescribed by the 

among others, evaluating the assumptions and 
methodologies used by the Group to value new schemes in 
the year and estimate the number of shares that will 
eventually be issued. We agreed key inputs in the models to 
internally and externally derived sources. Certain of the key 
inputs, specifically the risk free rate, share volatility, 
expected dividend yield, leaver assumptions and 
performance conditions, require significant estimation and 
judgement in their selection, and can have a significant 
impact on the derived fair value. For these key inputs we 
critically assessed the reasonableness of the Group’s 
assumptions by reference to external data and historical 
trends, along with reports from the Group’s external 
consultants. We also obtained the share-based incentive 
workings and performed procedures over the accuracy of 
calculation of the share-based incentive charge. In addition, 
we used our own tax specialists to consider the accuracy  
of the related deferred tax charge for the year. We also 
assessed whether the Group’s disclosures in these areas 
(see Notes 21 and 24) are appropriate.

3.  Our application of materiality and an overview of the 

scope of our audit

The materiality for the Group financial statements as a whole 
was set at £5.0m. This has been determined with reference to 
a benchmark of Group profit before tax (of which it represents 
5.2%) which we consider to be one of the principle 
considerations for members of the Company in assessing 
financial performance of the Group. 

We agreed with the Audit Committee to report to it all 
uncorrected misstatements we identified through our audit 
with a value in excess of £0.25m, in addition to other audit 
misstatements below that threshold that we believe 
warranted reporting on qualitative grounds. We agreed to 
report misstatements corrected by management where we 
believe these will assist the Audit Committee in fulfilling its 
governance responsibilities.

The Group audit team also audit the wholly owned 

component, Rightmove Group Limited which represents all of 
the operations of the Group, and accordingly 100% of total 
Group revenue; 100% of Group profit before taxation and 100% 
of total Group assets were audited to the above materiality. 

Companies Act 2006 is unmodified

In our opinion: 
•  the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be 

audited has been properly prepared in accordance with  
the Companies Act 2006; and

•  the information given in the Strategic Report and the 

Directors’ Report for the financial year for which the financial 
statements are prepared is consistent with the financial 
statements.

•  the information given in the Corporate Governance 

Statement set out on pages 24 to 32 with respect to internal 
control and risk management systems in relation to financial 
reporting processes and about share capital structures is 
consistent with the financial statements.

5.  We have nothing to report in respect of the matters 
on which we are required to report by exception 
Under ISAs (UK and Ireland) we are required to report to you 
if, based on the knowledge we acquired during our audit, we 
have identified other information in the Annual Report that 
contains a material inconsistency with either that knowledge 
or the financial statements, a material misstatement of fact,  
or that is otherwise misleading. 
In particular, we are required to report to you if: 
•  we have identified material inconsistencies between the 

knowledge we acquired during our audit and the directors’ 
statement that they consider that the Annual Report and 
financial statements taken as a whole is fair, balanced and 
understandable and provides the information necessary for 
shareholders to assess the Group’s performance, business 
model and strategy; or

•  the Corporate Governance Report does not appropriately 

address matters communicated by us to the Audit 
Committee.

Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to 
you if, in our opinion:
•  adequate accounting records have not been kept by the 

parent Company, or returns adequate for our audit have not 
been received from branches not visited by us; or 

•  the parent Company financial statements and the part of the 

Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited are not in 
agreement with the accounting records and returns; or 
•  certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by 

law are not made; or 

•  we have not received all the information and explanations 

we require for our audit.

64

www.rightmove.co.ukUnder the Listing Rules we are required to review: 
•  the directors’ statement, set out on page 32, in relation to 

going concern;  

•  the part of the Corporate Governance Statement on pages 

24 to 32 relating to the Company’s compliance with the nine 
provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code specified 
for our review. 

We have nothing to report in respect of the above 
responsibilities.

Scope of report and responsibilities
As explained more fully in the Directors’ Responsibilities 
Statement set out on page 36, the directors are responsible 
for the preparation of the financial statements and for being 
satisfied that they give a true and fair view. A description  
of the scope of an audit of accounts is provided  
on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at  
www.frc.org.uk/auditscopeukprivate. This report is  
made solely to the Company’s members as a body  
and subject to important explanations and disclaimers 
regarding our responsibilities, published on our website at 
www.kpmg.com/uk/auditscopeukco2013a, which are 
incorporated into this report as if set out in full and should  
be read to provide an understanding of the purpose of  
this report, the work we have undertaken and the basis of  
our opinions.

Karen Wightman (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on 
behalf of KPMG Audit Plc, Statutory Auditor 
Chartered Accountants 
Altius House 
1 North Fourth Street 
Milton Keynes 
Buckinghamshire 
MK9 1NE 
28 February 2014

65

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

139,935 

119,365

(42,919) 

(36,283)

103,962 
(2,408) 
(4,538) 

87,533
(2,410)
(2,041)

97,016 

83,082

142 
(143) 

(1) 

240
(129)

111

97,015 
(22,680) 

83,193
(20,642)

74,335 

62,551

74,335 

62,551

74.11 
72.61 

25.00 
25,126 

61.30
59.24

20.00
20,439

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income 
for the year ended 31 December 2013

Revenue 

Administrative expenses 

Operating profit before share-based payments and NI  
on share-based incentives  
Share-based payments 
NI on share-based incentives 

Operating profit 

Financial income  
Financial expenses 

Net financial (expense)/income  

Profit before tax 
Income tax expense 

Profit for the year being total comprehensive income 

Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent  

Earnings per share (pence) 
Basic 
Diluted   

Dividends per share (pence) 
Total dividends 

Note 

5 

24 
24 

6 

8 
9 

10 

11 
11 

12 
12 

66

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated statement of financial position
as at 31 December 2013

Non-current assets 
Property, plant and equipment  
Intangible assets  
Trade and other receivables 
Deferred tax assets 

Total non-current assets 

Current assets 
Trade and other receivables 
Cash and cash equivalents 

Total current assets 

Total assets  

Current liabilities 
Trade and other payables 
Income tax payable 

Total current liabilities  

Non-current liabilities 
Provisions 

Total non-current liabilities 

Total liabilities 

Net assets   

Equity 
Share capital  
Other reserves 
Retained earnings  

Total equity attributable to the equity holders of the parent 

Note 

13 
14 
16 
21 

16 
17 

18 

20 

22,23 
23 
23 

23 

  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

1,679 
1,593 
– 
5,635 

1,757
1,616
1,674
9,667

8,907 

14,714

22,838 
6,799 

18,476
7,082

29,637 

25,558

38,544 

40,272

(24,993) 
(4,472) 

(23,738)
(8,892)

(29,465) 

(32,630)

(164) 

(164) 

(129)

(129)

(29,629) 

(32,759)

8,915 

7,513

1,031 
401 
7,483 

1,059
373
6,081

8,915 

7,513

The financial statements were approved by the Board of directors on 28 February 2014 and were signed on its behalf by:

Nick McKittrick 
Director 

Robyn Perriss
Director

67

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Company statement of financial position
as at 31 December 2013

Non-current assets 
Investments   
Deferred tax assets 

Total non-current assets 

Total assets  

Current liabilities 
Trade and other payables 

Total current liabilities  

Net assets   

Equity 
Share capital  
Other reserves 
Retained earnings  

Total equity attributable to the equity holders of the parent 

Note 

15 
21 

  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

541,720 
3,357 

540,928
7,692

545,077 

548,620

545,077 

548,620

18 

(24,799) 

(21,181)

(24,799) 

(21,181)

520,278 

527,439

1,031 
108,493 
410,754 

1,059
107,673
418,707

520,278 

527,439

22,23 
23 
23 

23 

The financial statements were approved by the Board of directors on 28 February 2014 and were signed on its behalf by:

Nick McKittrick 
Director 

Robyn Perriss
Director

68

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated statement of cash flows
For the year ended 31 December 2013

Cash flows from operating activities 
Profit for the year 

Adjustments for: 
Depreciation charges  
Amortisation charges  
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment 
Loss on disposal of intangible assets 
Financial income  
Financial expenses 
Share-based payments 
Income tax expense 

Operating cash flow before changes in working capital 

Increase in trade and other receivables 
Increase in trade and other payables 
Increase in provisions 

Cash generated from operating activities 

Financial expenses paid 
Income taxes paid  

Net cash from operating activities 

Cash flows from investing activities 
Interest received 
Acquisition of property, plant and equipment 
Acquisition of intangible assets  

Net cash used in investing activities 

Cash flows from financing activities 
Dividends paid  
Purchase of own shares for cancellation 
Share related expenses 
Proceeds on exercise of share-based incentives 

Net cash used in financing activities  

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents  
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January  

Note 

13 
14 

8 
9 
24 
10 

20 

13 
14 

12 
23 
23 
23 

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

74,335 

62,551

770 
407 
– 
– 
(142) 
143 
2,408 
22,680 

752
327
42
1
(240)
129
2,410
20,642

100,601 

86,614

(2,691) 
1,218 
35 

(3,501)
2,879
129

99,163 

86,121

(143) 
(16,062) 

(129)
(14,618)

82,958 

71,374

145 
(762) 
(314) 

248
(1,431)
(624)

(931) 

(1,807)

(25,126) 
(60,537) 
(387) 
3,740 

(20,439)
(66,359)
(482)
3,027

(82,310) 

(84,253)

(283) 
7,082 

(14,686)
21,768

Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 

17 

6,799 

7,082

69

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

71,015 

155,761

(77,640) 
517 
1,616 
(1,727) 

(160,197)
565
1,576
(1,066)

(6,219) 

(3,361)

92,269 

90,641

86,050 

87,280

(25,126) 
(60,537) 
(387) 

(20,439)
(66,359)
(482)

(86,050) 

(87,280)

– 
– 

– 

–
–

–

Company statement of cash flows
for the year ended 31 December 2013

Cash flows from operating activities 
Profit for the year 

Adjustments for: 
Financial income 
Financial expenses 
Share-based payments 
Income tax credit 

Operating cash flow before changes in working capital 

Increase in trade and other payables 

Cash generated from operating activities 

Cash flows from financing activities 
Dividends paid 
Purchase of own shares for cancellation  
Share related expenses 

Net cash used in financing activities  

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents  
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January 

Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 

Note 

23 

27 
27 
24 

18 

12 
23 
23 

17 

70

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated statement of changes in shareholders’ equity
for the year ended 31 December 2013

Share 

capital 

£000 

Note  

EBT 

shares 

reserve 

£000 

Treasury 

shares 

£000 

At 1 January 2012 

1,104 

(10,258) 

(11,917) 

Reverse 

Other 

acquisition 

reserves 

reserve 

£000 

190 

£000 

138 

Retained 

earnings 

£000 

Total 

equity  

£000

45,397 

24,654

Total comprehensive income 
Profit for the year 

Transactions with owners  
  recorded directly in equity 
Share-based payments  
Tax credit in respect of share-based  
incentives recognised directly  
in equity 

Dividends to shareholders 
Exercise of share-based incentives 
Cancellation of own shares 
Share related expenses 

24 

21 
12 
23 
23 
23 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
(45) 
– 

– 

– 

– 
– 
2,347 
– 
– 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
45 
– 

– 

62,551 

62,551

– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

2,410 

2,410

2,136 
(20,439) 
680 
(66,359) 
(467) 

2,136
(20,439)
3,027
(66,359)
(467)

At 31 December 2012 

1,059 

(7,911) 

(11,917) 

235 

138 

25,909 

7,513

At 1 January 2013 

1,059 

(7,911) 

(11,917) 

235 

138 

25,909 

7,513

Total comprehensive income
Profit for the year 

Transactions with owners  
  recorded directly in equity 
Share-based payments  
Tax credit in respect of share-based  
incentives recognised directly  
in equity 

Dividends to shareholders 
Exercise of share-based incentives 
Cancellation of own shares 
Share related expenses 

24 

21 
12 
23 
23 
23 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
(28) 
– 

– 

– 

– 
– 
5,493 
– 
– 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
28 
– 

– 

74,335 

74,335

– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

2,408 

2,408

7,006 
(25,126) 
(1,753) 
(60,537) 
(424) 

7,006
(25,126)
3,740
(60,537)
(424)

At 31 December 2013 

1,031 

(2,418) 

(11,917) 

263 

138 

21,818 

8,915

71

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Company statement of changes in shareholders’ equity
for the year ended 31 December 2013

Share 
capital 
£000 

Treasury 
shares 
£000 

Other 
reserves 
£000 

Note  

Reverse 
acquisition 
reserve 
£000 

Retained 
earnings 
£000 

Total 
equity  
£000

At 1 January 2012 

1,104 

(11,917) 

3,274 

103,520 

359,171 

455,152

Total comprehensive income
Profit for the year 

Transactions with owners  
  recorded directly in equity 
Share-based payments  
Tax credit in respect of share-based incentives  

recognised directly in equity 

Capital contribution  
Dividends to shareholders  
Cancellation of own shares 
Share related expenses 

24 

21 
23 
12 
23 
23 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
(45) 
– 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

– 

– 

– 
834 
– 
45 
– 

– 

155,761 

155,761

– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

1,576 

1,576

1,381 
– 
(20,439) 
(66,359) 
(467) 

1,381
834
(20,439)
(66,359)
(467)

At 31 December 2012 

1,059 

(11,917) 

4,153 

103,520 

430,624 

527,439

At 1 January 2013 

1,059 

(11,917) 

4,153 

103,520 

430,624 

527,439

Total comprehensive income
Profit for the year 

Transactions with owners  
  recorded directly in equity
Share-based payments  
Tax credit in respect of share-based incentives  

recognised directly in equity 

Capital contribution  
Dividends to shareholders  
Cancellation of own shares 
Share related expenses 

24 

21 
23 
12 
23 
23 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
(28) 
– 

– 

– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

– 

– 

– 
792 
– 
28 
– 

– 

71,015 

71,015

– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

1,616 

1,616

5,503 
– 
(25,126) 
(60,537) 
(424) 

5,503
792
(25,126)
(60,537)
(424)

At 31 December 2013 

1,031 

(11,917) 

4,973 

103,520 

422,671 

520,278

72

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes forming part of the financial statements

1 General information 

Rightmove plc (the Company) is a company registered in England (Company no. 6426485) domiciled in the United Kingdom (UK). The 
consolidated financial statements of the Company as at and for the year ended 31 December 2013 comprise the Company and its interest 
in its subsidiaries (together referred to as the Group). Its principal business is the operation of the rightmove.co.uk website, which has the 
largest audience of any UK property website (as measured by page impressions).

The consolidated financial statements of the Group as at and for the year ended 31 December 2013 are available upon request to the 
Company Secretary from the Company’s registered office at Turnberry House, 30 Caldecotte Lake Drive, Caldecotte, Milton Keynes,  
MK7 8LE or are available on the corporate website at plc.rightmove.co.uk.

Statement of compliance
The Group and Company financial statements have been prepared and approved by the Board of directors in accordance with International 
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union (Adopted IFRSs) and issued by the International Accounting 
Standards Board (IASB).

The consolidated financial statements were authorised for issue by the Board of directors on 28 February 2014.

Basis of preparation
On publishing the Company financial statements here together with the Group financial statements, the Company is taking advantage of the 
exemption in s408 of the Companies Act 2006 not to present its individual statement of comprehensive income and related notes that form 
a part of these approved financial statements.

The accounting policies set out below have been consistently applied to both periods presented, unless otherwise stated.

The financial statements have been prepared on an historical cost basis.

Changes in accounting policies
The accounting policies applied by the Group in these consolidated financial statements are in accordance with Adopted IFRSs and are  
the same as those applied by the Group in its consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2012.

There were no new standards or amendments to standards that were mandatory for the first time for the financial year beginning  
1 January 2013 that have had an impact on the Group or Company financial statements.

Going concern
Throughout 2013, the Group was debt free and has continued to generate significant cash. The Group has net cash balances of £6,799,000 
at 31 December 2013 (2012: £7,082,000).

The Group entered into a 12 month agreement with HSBC Bank plc for a £10,000,000 committed revolving loan facility on  
10 February 2014. To date no amount has been drawn under this facility.

After making enquiries, the Board of directors has a reasonable expectation that the Group and the Company have adequate resources and 
banking facilities to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the Board of directors continues to adopt the 
going concern basis in preparing the annual report and financial statements.

Further information regarding the Group’s business activities, together with the factors likely to affect its future development, performance  
and position are set out in the Strategic Report on pages 4 to 21. The financial position of the Group, its cash flows, liquidity position and 
borrowing facilities are described on pages 15 to 16. In addition Note 4 to the financial statements includes the Group’s objectives, policies 
and processes for managing its capital; its financial risk management objectives; details of its financial instruments and its exposures to credit 
risk and liquidity risk.

73

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013Notes continued

1 General information continued

Capital structure
The Company was incorporated and registered in England and Wales on 14 November 2007 under the Companies Act 1985 as a private 
company limited by shares with the name Rightmove Group Limited, registered no. 6426485. The Company was re-registered as a public 
limited company under the name Rightmove Group plc on 29 November 2007. On 28 January 2008 the Company became the holding 
company of Rightmove Group Limited (formerly Rightmove plc, Company no. 3997679) and its subsidiaries pursuant to a Scheme of 
Arrangement under s425 of the Companies Act 1985. The shares in the Company were admitted to trading on the Official List of the London 
Stock Exchange on 28 January 2008 and the Company immediately changed its name to Rightmove plc. Details of the share capital of the 
Company are disclosed in Note 22.

Basis of consolidation
Subsidiaries are entities controlled by the Group. Control exists when the Group has the power, directly or indirectly, to govern the financial 
and operating policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities. In assessing control, potential voting rights that are currently 
exercisable or convertible are taken into account. The financial statements of subsidiaries are included in the consolidated financial 
statements from the date that control commences until the date that control ceases.

Judgements and estimates
The preparation of the consolidated and Company financial statements in conformity with Adopted IFRSs requires management to make 
judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, 
income and expenses. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and various other factors that are 
believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis of making judgements about carrying values of 
assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period 
in which the estimate is revised and in any future periods, if applicable.

In particular, information about significant areas of estimation uncertainty and critical judgements in applying accounting policies that have the 
most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the consolidated and Company financial statements is included in the following notes:

Note 2 (j) 

 Revenue recognition and the associated deferral, specifically regarding the period to which services relate, when specific 
products have expired and the recognition of revenue from membership offers including discounted or free periods.

Notes 21 and 24   The choice of valuation methodology and the inputs and assumptions used to calculate the initial fair value  

for new share-based incentives granted and the rate at which the related deferred tax asset is measured.

2 Significant accounting policies

(a)  Investments
Investments in subsidiaries are held at cost less any provision for impairment in the parent Company financial statements. 

(b)  Intangible assets

(i) Goodwill
 All business combinations are accounted for by applying the purchase method. Goodwill that arises upon the acquisition of subsidiaries 
is included in intangible assets. In respect of business acquisitions that have occurred since 1 January 2004, goodwill represents the 
difference between the cost of the acquisition and the fair value of the net identifiable assets acquired.

 In respect of acquisitions prior to this date, goodwill is included on the basis of its deemed cost, which represents the amount previously 
recorded under UK Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The classification and accounting treatment of business 
combinations that occurred prior to 1 January 2004 were not reconsidered in preparing the Group’s opening IFRS statement of financial 
position at 1 January 2004.

 Goodwill is stated at cost less any accumulated impairment losses. Goodwill is tested annually for impairment. This applies to all 
goodwill arising both before and after 1 January 2004.

74

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
2 Significant accounting policies continued

(ii) Research and development
 The Group undertakes research and development expenditure in view of developing new products and improving the existing property 
website. Expenditure on research activities, undertaken with the prospect of gaining new technical knowledge and understanding, is 
recognised in profit or loss as incurred.

 Expenditure on development activities, whereby research findings are applied to a plan or design for the production of a new product or 
substantially enhanced website, is capitalised if the new product or the enhanced website is technically and commercially feasible and 
the Group has sufficient resources to complete development.

 The expenditure capitalised includes subcontractors and direct labour. Capitalised development expenditure is stated at cost less 
accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses. Subsequent expenditure on capitalised intangible assets is capitalised 
only when it increases the economic benefits embodied in the specific asset to which it relates. All other expenditure is expensed  
when incurred.

(iii) Computer software and licences
 Computer software and externally acquired software licences are capitalised and stated at cost less accumulated amortisation and 
impairment losses. Amortisation is charged from the date the asset is available for use. Amortisation is provided to write off the cost  
less the estimated residual value of the computer software or licence by equal annual instalments over its estimated useful economic  
life as follows:

Computer software 
Software licences 

20.0% – 33.3% per annum
20.0% – 33.3% per annum

(c) Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and impairment losses. Depreciation is provided to write off 
the cost less the estimated residual value of property, plant and equipment by equal annual instalments over their estimated useful economic 
lives as follows:

Office equipment, fixtures & fittings 
Computer equipment 
Leasehold improvements 

20.0% per annum
20.0% – 33.3% per annum
remaining life of the lease

(d) Impairment
The carrying value of property, plant and equipment is reviewed at each reporting date to determine whether there is any indication of 
impairment. If any such indication exists, the asset’s recoverable amount is estimated. An impairment loss is recognised for the amount by 
which the asset’s carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount. The recoverable amount of non-financial assets is the greater of their fair 
value less costs to sell and value in use. In assessing value in use, the estimated future cash flows are discounted to their present value 
using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset. For an 
asset that does not generate largely independent cash flows, the recoverable amount is determined for the cash generating unit to which the 
asset belongs.

Goodwill and intangible assets that have an indefinite useful life are not subject to amortisation but are tested for impairment annually and 
whenever there is an indication that they might be impaired. An impairment loss is recognised for the amount by which the carrying value  
of the asset exceeds its recoverable amount.

75

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes continued

2 Significant accounting policies continued

Investments are assessed for possible impairment when there is an indication that the fair value of the investments may be below the 
Company’s carrying value. When such a condition is deemed to be other than temporary, the carrying value of the investment is written 
down to its fair value and the amount written off is included in profit or loss. In making the determination as to whether a decline is other  
than temporary, the Company considers such factors as the duration and extent of the decline, the investee’s financial performance and  
the Company’s ability and intention to retain its investment for a period that will be sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in the 
investment’s market value.

(e) Financial instruments
Trade receivables are recognised at fair value less any impairment loss. A provision for impairment of trade receivables is established when 
there is objective evidence that the Group will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of receivables.

Inter-group balances and transactions, and any unrealised income and expenses arising from inter-group transactions, are eliminated in 
preparing the consolidated financial statements.

Trade payables are recognised at fair value. Trade payables are classified as current liabilities unless the Group has an unconditional right to 
defer settlement of the liability for at least 12 months after the reporting date.

(f) Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash balances and call deposits with original maturities of three months or less. 

(g) Provisions
A provision is recognised if, as a result of a past event, the Group has a present legal or constructive obligation that can be estimated reliably 
and it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation.

Provisions are determined by discounting the expected future cash flows at a pre-tax rate that reflects current market assessment of the time 
value of money and the risks specific to the liability. The unwinding of the discount is recognised as a finance cost.

A provision is maintained in respect of lease dilapidations based on an estimated cost to make good per square foot multiplied by the floor 
area of each premise.

(h) Employee benefits

(i) Pensions
 The Group provides access to a stakeholder pension scheme (a defined contribution pension plan) into which employees may elect to 
contribute via salary exchange. Obligations for contributions to defined contribution pension plans are recognised as an employee benefit 
expense in profit or loss when they are due.

(ii) Employee share schemes
 The Group provides share-based incentive plans allowing executive directors and other selected senior management to acquire shares  
in the Company. An expense is recognised in profit or loss, with a corresponding increase in equity, over the period during which the 
employees become unconditionally entitled to acquire equity settled share-based incentives.

 Fair value is measured using either the Monte Carlo or Black Scholes pricing model as is most appropriate for each scheme. 
Measurement inputs include share price on measurement date, exercise price of the instrument, expected volatility (based on weighted 
average historic volatility adjusted for changes expected due to publicly available information), weighted average expected life of the 
instruments (based on historical experience and general option behaviour), expected dividends, and risk-free interest rates (based on 
government bonds). Service and non-market performance conditions attached to the awards are not taken into account in determining 
the fair value.

 For share-based incentive awards with non-vesting conditions, the grant date fair value of the share-based incentives is measured to 
reflect such conditions and there is no true-up for differences between expected and actual outcomes. When either the employee or the 
Company chooses not to meet the non-vesting condition, the failure to meet the non-vesting condition is treated as a cancellation and 
the cost that would have been recognised over the remainder of the vesting period is recognised immediately in profit or loss.

76

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
2 Significant accounting policies continued

(iii) Own shares held by The Rightmove Employees’ Share Trust (EBT)
 The EBT is treated as an agent of Rightmove Group Limited and as such EBT transactions are treated as being those of 
Rightmove Group Limited and are therefore reflected in the Group’s consolidated financial statements. In particular, at a consolidated 
level, the EBT’s purchases of shares in the Company are charged directly to equity.

 (iv) National Insurance (NI) on share-based incentives
 Employer’s NI is accrued, where applicable, at a rate of 13.8%, which management expects to be the prevailing rate when share-based 
incentives are exercised. In the case of share options, it is provided on the difference between the share price at the reporting date and 
the average exercise price of share options. In the case of nil cost performance shares and deferred shares, it is provided based on the 
share price at the reporting date.

(i) Treasury shares and shares purchased for cancellation
When share capital recognised as equity is repurchased, the amount of the consideration paid, including directly attributable costs, is 
recognised as a deduction from equity. Repurchased shares are either held in treasury or cancelled.

(j) Revenue
Revenue principally represents the amounts, excluding value added tax (VAT), receivable from customers in respect of properties advertised 
on the Group website. All revenue is recognised in the month to which it relates. Agency and overseas branches are billed in advance with 
net revenue deferred until the service commencement date. The VAT liability is recognised at the point of invoice. New homes developers are 
typically billed monthly in arrears. Where invoices are raised on other than a monthly basis, the amounts, including those relating to discounts 
or free periods, are recognised as deferred or accrued revenue and released to the income statement on a monthly basis in line with the 
provision of services as stipulated in the contract terms.

(k) Segmental reporting
An operating segment is a component of the Group that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses, 
including revenues and expenses that relate to transactions with any of the Group’s other components. An operating segment’s operating 
results are reviewed regularly by the Group’s Chief Executive Officer to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and 
assess its performance and for which discrete financial information is available.

(l) Leases
Operating lease rentals are charged to profit or loss on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease. Where cash is received in exchange 
for entering into a lease with rates above market value, this upfront payment is deferred and released on a straight-line basis over the lease 
term.

(m) Financial income and expenses
Financial income comprises interest receivable on cash balances, deposits and dividend income. Interest income is recognised as it accrues, 
using the effective interest method. Dividend income is recognised on the date that the Company’s right to receive payment is established.

Financial expenses comprise debt issue costs and bank charges and the unwinding of the discount on provisions.

(n) Taxation
Income tax on the results for the year comprises current and deferred tax. Income tax is recognised in profit or loss except to the extent that 
it relates to items recognised directly in equity, in which case it is recognised in equity.

Current tax is the expected tax payable on the taxable income for the period net of any charge or credit posted directly to equity, using tax 
rates enacted or substantially enacted at the reporting date and any adjustment to tax payable in respect of previous periods.

Deferred tax is provided in respect of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting 
purposes and the amounts used for taxation purposes. The following temporary differences are not provided for: the initial recognition of 
goodwill; the initial recognition of assets or liabilities that affect neither accounting nor taxable profit other than in a business combination and 
the differences relating to investments in subsidiaries to the extent that they will probably not reverse in the foreseeable future. The amount of 
deferred tax provided is based on the expected manner of realisation or settlement of the carrying amount of assets and liabilities, using tax 
rates enacted or substantially enacted by the reporting date.

77

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
Notes continued

2 Significant accounting policies continued

A deferred tax asset is recognised only to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will be available against which the asset can 
be utilised.

In accordance with IAS 12, the Group policy in relation to the recognition of deferred tax on share-based incentives is to include the income 
tax effect of the tax deduction in profit or loss to the value of the income tax charge on the cumulative IFRS 2 charge. The remainder of the 
income tax effect of the tax deduction is recognised in equity.

(o) Dividends
Dividends unpaid at the reporting date are only recognised as a liability (and deduction to equity) at that date to the extent that they are 
appropriately authorised and are no longer at the discretion of the Company. Unpaid dividends that do not meet these criteria are disclosed 
in the notes to the financial statements.

(p) Earnings per share
The Group presents basic, diluted and underlying earnings per share (EPS) data for its ordinary shares. Basic EPS is calculated by dividing 
the profit or loss attributable to equity holders of the Company by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the 
year, adjusted for own shares held. Diluted EPS is determined by adjusting the profit or loss attributable to ordinary shareholders and the 
weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding, adjusted for own shares held, for the effects of all potential dilutive instruments, 
which comprise share-based incentives granted to employees. The calculation of underlying EPS is disclosed in Note 11.

3 IFRSs not yet applied

A number of new standards, amendments to standards and interpretations are not yet effective for the year ended 31 December 2013 and 
have not been applied in preparing these consolidated financial statements. None of these are expected to have a significant effect on the 
consolidated financial statements of the Group.

4 Financial risk and capital management

Overview
The Group has exposure to the following risks from its use of financial instruments:
credit risk
• 
• 
liquidity risk
•  market risk

This note presents information about the Group and Company’s exposure to each of the above risks, the Group’s objectives, policies and 
processes for measuring and managing risk and the Group’s management of capital. Further quantitative disclosures are included throughout 
these consolidated financial statements.

The Board of directors has overall responsibility for the establishment and oversight of the Group’s risk management framework. The primary 
method by which risks are monitored and managed by the Group is through the monthly Executive Management Board, where any 
significant new risks or change in status to existing risks will be discussed and actions taken as appropriate.

The Group’s risk management policies are established to identify and analyse the risks faced by the Group, to set appropriate risk limits and 
controls and to monitor risks and adherence to limits. Risk management policies and systems are reviewed regularly to reflect changes in 
market conditions and the Group’s activities. The Group, through its training and management standards and procedures, aims to develop a 
disciplined and constructive control environment in which all employees understand their roles and obligations.

The Audit Committee oversees how management monitors compliance with the Group’s internal controls and reviews the adequacy of the 
risk management framework in relation to the risks faced by the Group.

78

www.rightmove.co.uk4 Financial risk and capital management continued

Credit risk
Credit risk is the risk of financial loss to the Group if a customer or banking institution fails to meet its contractual obligations.

The Group’s exposure to credit risk is influenced mainly by the individual characteristics of each customer. The Group provides credit to 
customers in the normal course of business. The Group provides its services to a wide range of customers in the UK and overseas and 
therefore believes it has no material concentration of credit risk.

More than 90.0% (2012: 94.0%) of the Group’s agency and new homes customers pay via monthly direct debit, minimising the risk of  
non-payment. The Group establishes an allowance for impairment that represents its estimate of incurred losses in respect of trade  
and other receivables based on individually identified loss exposures.

The Group’s treasury policy is to monitor cash balances on a daily basis to ensure that no more than £30,000,000 is held with any 
single institution.

Liquidity risk
Liquidity risk is the risk that the Group will encounter difficulties in meeting the obligations associated with its financial liabilities that are settled  
by delivering cash. The Group and Company’s approach to managing liquidity is to ensure, as far as possible, that it will always have sufficient 
liquidity to meet its liabilities when due, under both normal and stressed conditions, without incurring unacceptable losses or risking damage to 
the Group’s reputation.

The Group’s revenue model is largely subscription-based, which results in a regular level of cash conversion allowing it to service working capital 
requirements.

The Group and Company ensure that they have sufficient cash on demand to meet expected operational expenses excluding the potential 
impact of extreme circumstances that cannot reasonably be predicted, such as natural disasters. Throughout the year, the Group typically  
had sufficient cash on demand to meet operational expenses on continuing operations, before financing activities, for a period of 136 days 
(2012: 256 days).

The Group entered into a 12 month agreement with HSBC Bank plc for a £10,000,000 committed revolving loan facility on 10 February 2014. 
To date no amount has been drawn under this facility.

Market risk
Market risk is the risk that changes in market prices such as foreign exchange and interest rates will affect the Group’s income. The objective of 
market risk management is to manage and control market risk exposures within acceptable parameters, while optimising the return on risk.

(i) Currency risk
 All of the Group’s sales and more than 95.0% (2012: 95.0%) of the Group’s purchases are Sterling denominated, accordingly it has no 
significant currency risk.

(ii) Interest rate risk
 The Group and Company have no interest bearing financial liabilities. The Group is exposed to interest rate risk on cash balances and 
amounts held in Escrow.

Capital management
The Board of directors’ policy is to maintain an efficient statement of financial position so as to maintain investor, creditor and market confidence 
and to sustain future development of the business. The Board of directors considers that the future working capital and capital expenditure 
requirements of the Group will continue to be low and accordingly return on capital measures are not key performance targets. The Board of 
directors monitors the spread of the Company’s shareholders as well as underlying basic earnings per share. The Board of directors has a 
progressive dividend policy and also monitors the level of dividends to ordinary shareholders in relation to profit growth. The Board’s policy is  
to return surplus capital to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share buybacks.

The Company purchases its own shares in the market; the timing of these purchases depends on market conditions. In 2013, 2,780,380  
(2012: 4,514,521) shares were bought back and were cancelled at an average price of £21.77 (2012: £14.70).

There were no changes in the Group’s approach to capital management during the year. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries are 
subject to externally imposed capital requirements.

79

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
Notes continued

4 Financial risk and capital management continued

Operational risk
Operational risk is the risk of direct or indirect loss arising from a wide variety of causes associated with the Group’s processes, personnel, 
technology and infrastructure, and from external factors other than credit, market and liquidity risks such as those arising from legal and 
regulatory requirements and generally accepted standards of corporate behaviour. Operational risks arise from all of the Group’s operations.

The Group’s objective is to manage operational risk so as to balance the avoidance of financial losses and damage to the Group’s reputation 
with overall cost effectiveness and to avoid control procedures that restrict initiative and creativity.

The primary responsibility for the development and implementation of controls to address operational risk is assigned to senior management 
within each business unit. This responsibility is supported by the development of overall Group standards for the management of operational 
risk in the following areas:  
• 
• 
• 
•  documentation of controls and procedures;
• 

requirements for appropriate segregation of duties, including the independent authorisation of transactions;
requirements for the reconciliation and monitoring of transactions; 
compliance with regulatory and other legal requirements;

 requirements for the periodic assessment of operational risks faced and the adequacy of controls and procedures to address the  
risks identified;
requirements for reporting of operational losses and proposed remedial action;
• 
•  development and regular testing of business continuity and disaster recovery plans; 
• 
• 

training and professional development; and
risk mitigation, including insurance where this is effective.

5 Operating segments

The Group determines and presents operating segments based on internal information that is provided to the Chief Executive Officer, who is the 
Group’s Chief Operating Decision Maker.

The Group’s reportable segments are as follows:
• 
• 

 The Agency segment which provides resale and lettings property advertising services on www.rightmove.co.uk; and
 The New Homes segment which provides property advertising services to new home developers and housing associations on  
www.rightmove.co.uk.

The Other segment which represents activities under the reportable segments threshold, comprises overseas and commercial property 
advertising services and non-property advertising services which include our third party and consumer services as well as data and Automated 
Valuation Model services. Management monitors the business segments at a revenue and trade receivables level separately for the purpose of 
making decisions about resources to be allocated and of assessing performance. All revenues in both years are derived from third parties and 
there are no inter-segment revenues.

80

www.rightmove.co.uk5 Operating segments continued

Operating costs, financial income, financial expenses and income taxes in relation to the Agency, New Homes and the Other segment are 
managed on a centralised basis at a Rightmove Group Limited level and as there are no internal measures of individual segment profitability, 
relevant disclosures have been shown under the heading of Central in the table below.

The Company has no reportable segments.

Year ended 31 December 2013   
Revenue  
Operating profit(1) 
Depreciation and amortisation 
Financial income 
Financial expenses 
Trade receivables(3) 
Other segment assets 
Segment liabilities 
Capital expenditure(6) 

Year ended 31 December 2012 
Revenue  
Operating profit(1) 
Depreciation and amortisation 
Financial income 
Financial expenses 
Trade receivables(3) 
Other segment assets 
Segment liabilities 
Capital expenditure(6) 

Agency 

£000 

107,307 
– 
– 
– 
– 
13,124 
– 
– 
– 

92,387 
– 
– 
– 
– 
10,693 
– 
– 
– 

New 

Homes 

£000 

24,170 
– 
– 
– 
– 
4,717 
– 
– 
– 

20,599 
– 
– 
– 
– 
4,003 
– 
– 
– 

Sub 

total 

£000 

131,477 
– 
– 
– 
– 
17,841 
– 
– 
– 

112,986 
– 
– 
– 
– 
14,696 
– 
– 
– 

Other 

£000 

Central 

Adjustments 

£000 

£000 

Total 

£000

8,458 
– 
– 
– 
– 
1,225 
– 
– 
– 

6,379 
– 
– 
– 
– 
1,290 
– 
– 
– 

– 
103,962 
(1,177) 
142 
(143) 
– 
19,347 
(29,498) 
1,076 

– 
87,533 
(1,079) 
240 
(129) 
– 
24,219 
(32,692) 
2,055 

– 

(6,946)(2) 

– 
– 
– 
80(4) 
51(5) 
(131)(4)(5) 
– 

139,935
97,016
(1,177)
142
(143)
19,146
19,398
(29,629)
1,076

– 

(4,451)(7) 

– 
– 
– 
51(4) 
16(5) 
(67)(4)(5) 
– 

119,365
83,082
(1,079)
240
(129)
16,037
24,235
(32,759)
2,055

(1)   Operating profit is stated after the charge for depreciation and amortisation.
(2)    Operating profit for the year ended 31 December 2013 does not include share-based payments charge (£2,408,000) and NI on  

share-based incentives (£4,538,000).

(3)    The only segment assets that are separately monitored by the Chief Operating Decision Maker relate to trade receivables net of any 

associated provision for impairment. All other segment assets are reported on a centralised basis.

(4)    The adjustments column reflects the reclassification of credit balances in accounts receivable made on consolidation for statutory  

accounts purposes.

(5)    The adjustments column reflects the reclassification of debit balances in accounts payable made on consolidation for statutory  

accounts purposes.

(6)    Capital expenditure consists of additions of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets (excluding goodwill).
(7)    Operating profit for the year ended 31 December 2012 does not include share-based payments charge (£2,410,000) and NI on  

share-based incentives (£2,041,000).

81

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes continued

5 Operating segments continued

Geographic information
In presenting information on the basis of geography, revenue and assets are based on the geographical location of customers.

Group  

UK   
Rest of the world 

6 Operating profit

Operating profit is stated after charging: 
Employee benefit expense 
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 
Amortisation of computer software 
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment 
Loss on disposal of intangible assets 
Bad debt impairment charge 
Operating lease rentals 
  Land and buildings 
  Other   

Auditor’s remuneration

Year ended 31 December 2013 
Revenue   Trade receivables 
£000 

£000 

138,380 
1,555 

19,007 
139 

Year ended 31 December 2012

Revenue  

Trade receivables 

£000 

118,329 
1,036 

£000

15,954
83

139,935 

19,146 

119,365 

16,037

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

19,218 
770 
407 
– 
– 
235 

867 
535 

17,540
752
327
42
1
198

899
432

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

Fees payable to the Company’s auditor in respect of the audit 
Audit of the Company’s financial statements 
Audit of the Company’s subsidiaries pursuant to legislation 

Total audit remuneration 

Fees payable to the Company’s auditor in respect of non-audit related services 
Tax compliance services and advisory 
All other services 

Total non-audit remuneration 

15 
105 

120 

12 
22 

34 

15
102

117

11
17

28

82

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7 Employee numbers and costs

The average number of persons employed (including executive directors) during the year, analysed by category, was as follows:

Administration 
Management 

The aggregate payroll costs of these persons were as follows:

Wages and salaries 
Social security costs 
Pension costs 

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
Number of 

Number of 
employees 

332 
17 

349 

employees

307
18

325

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

16,716 
2,066 
436 

15,281
1,887
372

19,218 

17,540

Social security costs do not include £4,538,000 (2012: £2,041,000) NI on share-based incentives which has been disclosed in the Statement 
of Comprehensive Income.

8 Financial income

Interest income on cash balances 
Interest income on amounts held in Escrow 

9 Financial expenses

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

136 
6 

142 

233
7

240

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

Other financial expenses 

143 

129

83

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

22,517 
(169) 

20,805
(15)

22,348 

20,790

150 
3 
179 

332 

(299)
(4)
155

(148)

22,680 

20,642

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

(10,706) 

(3,301)

3,700 

1,165

(7,006) 

(2,136)

Notes continued

10 Income tax expense

Current tax expense 
Current year  
Adjustment to current tax charge in respect of prior years 

Deferred tax charge/(credit) 
Origination and reversal of temporary differences 
Adjustment to deferred tax charge in respect of prior years 
Reduction in tax rate 

Total income tax expense  

Income tax (credit)/charge recognised directly in equity

Current tax   
Share-based incentives 

Deferred tax 
Share-based incentives 

Total income tax credit recognised directly in equity 

84

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10 Income tax expense continued

Reconciliation of effective tax rate
The Group’s income tax expense for the year is higher (2012: higher) than the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK of 23.25%  
(2012: 24.5%). The differences are explained below:

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

Profit for the year 
Total income tax expense 

Profit excluding income tax 

Current tax at 23.25% (2012: 24.5%) 
Reduction in tax rate 
Non-deductible expenses 
Share-based incentives 
Adjustment to current tax charge in respect of prior years 
Adjustment to deferred tax charge in respect of prior years 

74,335 
22,680 

97,015 

22,556 
179 
130 
(19) 
(169) 
3 

62,551
20,642

83,193

20,382
155
107
17
(15)
(4)

22,680 

20,642

The Group’s consolidated effective tax rate on the profit of £97,015,000 for the year ended 31 December 2013 is 23.4% (2012: 24.8%). The 
difference between the standard rate and effective rate at 31 December 2013 is attributable to a reduction in the rate at which the deferred tax 
asset is recognised 0.2% (2012: 0.2%) and disallowable expenditure 0.1% (2012: 0.1%) offset by a prior year adjustment in respect of research 
and development 0.15% (2012: 0.0%).

11 Earnings per share (EPS)

Year ended 31 December 2013 
Basic EPS 
Diluted EPS   
Underlying basic EPS 
Underlying diluted EPS 

Year ended 31 December 2012 
Basic EPS 
Diluted EPS   
Underlying basic EPS 
Underlying diluted EPS 

Weighted average number of ordinary shares (basic)

Issued ordinary shares at 1 January less ordinary shares held by the EBT 
Effect of own shares held in treasury 
Effect of own shares purchased for cancellation 
Effect of share-based incentives exercised 

  Weighted average 
number of 

ordinary shares 

100,302,258 
102,375,057 
100,302,258 
102,375,057 

102,036,054 
105,587,648 
102,036,054 
105,587,648 

Total  

earnings 

£000 

74,335 
74,335 
81,281 
81,281 

62,551 
62,551 
67,002 
67,002 

Pence 

 per share 

74.11
72.61
81.04
79.40

61.30
59.24
65.67
63.46

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
Number of shares
  Number of shares 

102,492,086 
(2,505,430) 
(1,232,171) 
1,547,773 

105,882,853
(2,505,430)
(1,846,076)
504,707

100,302,258 

102,036,054

85

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes continued

11 Earnings per share (EPS) continued

Weighted average number of ordinary shares (diluted)
For diluted EPS, the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue is adjusted to assume conversion of all potentially dilutive shares. 
The Group’s potential dilutive instruments are in respect of share-based incentives granted to employees, which will be settled by ordinary 
shares held by the EBT and shares held in treasury.

Weighted average number of ordinary shares (basic) 
Dilutive impact of share-based incentives outstanding 

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
Number of shares
  Number of shares 

100,302,258 
2,072,799 

102,036,054
3,551,594

102,375,057 

105,587,648

The average market value of the Group’s shares for the purposes of calculating the dilutive effect of share-based incentives was based on 
quoted market prices for the period during which the share-based incentives were outstanding.

Underlying EPS
Underlying EPS is calculated before the charge for share-based payments and NI on share-based incentives but without any adjustment to 
the tax charge in respect of these items. A reconciliation of the basic earnings for the year to the underlying earnings is presented below:

Year ended 

Year ended 
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

Basic earnings for the year 
Share-based payments 
NI on share-based incentives  

Underlying earnings for the year 

74,335 
2,408 
4,538 

62,551
2,410
2,041

81,281 

67,002

86

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12 Dividends

Dividends declared and paid by the Company were as follows:

2011 final dividend paid 
2012 interim dividend paid 
2012 final dividend paid 
2013 interim dividend paid 

2013 

2012

Pence per share 

£000 

Pence per share 

– 
– 
14.0 
11.0 

– 
– 
14,114 
11,012 

11.0 
9.0 
– 
– 

£000

11,273
9,166
–
–

25.0 

25,126 

20.0 

20,439

After the reporting date a final dividend of 17.0p (2012: 14.0p) per qualifying ordinary share being £16,908,000 (2012: £13,981,000) was 
proposed by the Board of directors.

The 2012 final dividend paid on 7 June 2013 was £14,114,000 being a difference of £133,000 compared to that reported in the 
2012 Annual Report, which was due to an increase in the ordinary shares entitled to a dividend between 31 December 2012 and the  
final dividend record date of 10 May 2013.

The 2013 interim dividend paid on 8 November 2013 was £11,012,000 being a difference of £91,000 compared to that reported in the  
2013 Half Year Report, which was due to a reduction in the ordinary shares entitled to a dividend between 30 June 2013 and the interim 
dividend record date of 11 October 2013.

The terms of the EBT provide that dividends payable on the ordinary shares held by the EBT are waived. No provision was made for the final 
dividend in either year and there are no income tax consequences.

13 Property, plant and equipment

Office equipment, 

Computer 

Leasehold 

Work 

fixtures & fittings 

equipment 

improvements 

in progress 

£000 

£000 

£000 

£000 

Group 

Cost 
At 1 January 2013 
Additions 
Brought into use 

At 31 December 2013 

Depreciation 
At 1 January 2013 
Charge for year 

647 
40 
– 

687 

3,126 
722 
17 

3,865 

(407) 
(64) 

(2,112) 
(648) 

At 31 December 2013 

(471) 

(2,760) 

Net book value 
At 31 December 2013 

At 1 January 2013 

216 

240 

1,105 

1,014 

Total 

£000

4,311
762
(70)

5,003

(2,554)
(770)

(3,324)

1,679

87 
– 
(87) 

– 

– 
– 

– 

– 

451 
– 
– 

451 

(35) 
(58) 

(93) 

358 

416 

87 

1,757

87

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes continued

13 Property, plant and equipment continued

Group 

Cost 
At 1 January 2012 
Additions 
Disposals 

Office equipment, 

Computer 

Leasehold 

Work 

fixtures & fittings 

equipment 

improvements 

in progress 

£000 

£000 

£000 

£000 

698 
152 
(203) 

2,486 
741 
(101) 

102 
451 
(102) 

At 31 December 2012 

647 

3,126 

451 

Depreciation 
At 1 January 2012 
Charge for year 
Disposals 

(504) 
(76) 
173 

(1,585) 
(616) 
89 

At 31 December 2012 

(407) 

(2,112) 

Net book value 
At 31 December 2012 

At 1 January 2012 

240 

194 

1,014 

901 

(77) 
(60) 
102 

(35) 

416 

25 

Total 

£000

3,286
1,431
(406)

4,311

(2,166)
(752)
364

(2,554)

1,757

1,120

– 
87 
– 

87 

– 
– 
– 

– 

87 

– 

The work in progress consisted of a new finance system that was brought into use during 2013. This resulted in a transfer of £17,000 to 
computer equipment and £70,000 to computer software (refer Note 14).

The Company had no property, plant or equipment in either year.

14 Intangible assets

Group 

Cost 
At 1 January 2013 
Additions 
Brought into use (refer Note 13) 

At 31 December 2013 

Amortisation  
At 1 January 2013 
Charge for year 

At 31 December 2013 

Net book value 
At 31 December 2013 

At 1 January 2013 

88

Goodwill 

£000 

732 
– 
– 

732 

 –  
– 

– 

732 

732 

Computer 

software 

£000 

3,685 
314 
70 

Total 

£000

4,417
314
70

4,069 

4,801

(2,801) 
(407) 

(2,801)
(407)

(3,208) 

(3,208)

861 

884 

1,593

1,616

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14 Intangible assets continued

Group 

Cost 
At 1 January 2012 
Additions 
Disposals 

At 31 December 2012 

Amortisation  
At 1 January 2012 
Charge for year 
Disposals 

At 31 December 2012 

Net book value 
At 31 December 2012 

At 1 January 2012 

Goodwill 

£000 

732 
– 
– 

732 

–  
– 
 –  

– 

732 

732 

Computer 

software 

£000 

3,093 
624 
(32) 

Total 

£000

3,825
624
(32)

3,685 

4,417

(2,505) 
(327) 
31 

(2,505)
(327)
31

(2,801) 

(2,801)

884 

588 

1,616

1,320

The Company had no intangible assets in either year.

Impairment testing for cash generating units containing goodwill
For the purpose of impairment testing, goodwill is allocated to the Group’s operations which represent the lowest level within the Group  
at which goodwill is monitored for internal management purposes, which is not higher than the Group’s operating segments as reported  
in Note 5.

The aggregate carrying amounts of goodwill allocated to each unit are as follows:

Agency   

  31 December 2013   31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

732 

732

The carrying value of the £732,000 purchased goodwill in Agency, arising pre-transition to IFRS, is reviewed annually for impairment.  
Due to its level of significance the disclosures as required by IAS 36 Impairment of Assets have not been made.

15 Investments

The subsidiaries of the Group as at 31 December 2013 are as follows:

Company   

Rightmove Group Limited 
Rightmove.co.uk Limited 
Rightmove Home Information 
Packs Limited 

Nature of business 

Country of  

incorporation 

Online advertising 
Dormant 

England and Wales 
England and Wales 

Holding 

Class of shares

100% 
100% 

Ordinary
Ordinary

Dormant 

England and Wales 

100% 

Ordinary

All the above subsidiaries are included in the Group consolidated financial statements.

89

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Notes continued

15 Investments continued

Company

Investment in subsidiary undertakings 

At 1 January  
Additions – subsidiary share-based payments charge (refer Note 24) 

At 31 December 

  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

540,928 
792 

540,094
834

541,720 

540,928

In 2008 the Company became the holding company of Rightmove Group Limited (formerly Rightmove plc, Company no. 3997679) and 
its subsidiaries pursuant to a Scheme of Arrangement under s425 of the Companies Act 1985 by way of a share-for-share exchange. 
Following the Scheme of Arrangement, the Company underwent a court-approved capital reduction. The consolidated assets and liabilities  
of the Group immediately after the Scheme were substantially the same as the consolidated assets and liabilities of the Group immediately 
prior to the Scheme.

Following the capital reconstruction in 2008 all employees’ share-based incentives were transferred to the new holding company,  
Rightmove plc. In addition certain directors’ contracts of employment were transferred from Rightmove Group Limited to Rightmove plc, 
whilst all other employees remained employed by Rightmove Group Limited. Accordingly the share-based payments charge has been split 
between the Company and Rightmove Group Limited with £792,000 (2012: £834,000) being recognised in the Company accounts as a 
capital contribution to its subsidiary.

16 Trade and other receivables

Group 

Trade receivables 
Less provision for impairment of trade receivables 

Net trade receivables 
Prepayments 
Amounts held in Escrow  
Accrued income  
Interest receivable 
Other debtors 

Non-current   
Current   

  31 December 2013   31 December 2012  

£000  

19,582  
(436) 

19,146 
1,743 
1,680 
139 
41 
89 

£000

16,484
(447)

16,037
2,183
1,674
142
50
64

22,838 

20,150

– 
22,838 

1,674
18,476

22,838 

20,150

Amounts held in Escrow relate to the completion proceeds and contingent consideration on the sale on 21 June 2010 of the Group’s 66.7% 
shareholding in Holiday Lettings Holdings Limited (HLHL), which owned 100% of the shares in the trading entity Holiday Lettings Limited (HLL).

Under the terms of the sale agreement the amounts held in Escrow earn interest at Barclays Bank Plc’s current interest rate and become 
available on the fourth anniversary of the completion date of the transaction and have accordingly been reclassified from non-current to 
current in the period. No discount has been applied as the account is interest bearing and £6,000 has been credited to profit or loss in the 
current year, bringing the total amount held in Escrow to £1,680,000 (2012: £1,674,000).

Exposure to credit and currency risks and impairment losses relating to trade and other receivables are disclosed in Note 28.

The Company has no trade and other receivables in either year.

90

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17 Cash and cash equivalents

Group 

Bank accounts 

  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

6,799 

7,082

Cash balances were held in current accounts during the year and attracted interest at a weighted average rate of 0.7% (2012: 0.7%).

The Company had cash and cash equivalent balances at 31 December 2013 of £208 (2012: £238).

18 Trade and other payables

Trade payables 
Trade accruals 
Other creditors 
Other taxation and social security 
Deferred revenue  
Inter-group payables 

Group 

Company

31 December 2013  31 December 2012  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000 

£000 

£000 

685 
5,704 
369 
5,961 
12,274 
– 

1,220 
7,694 
146 
4,770 
9,908 
– 

– 
3,768 
– 
– 
– 
21,031 

–
5,863
–
–
–
15,318

24,993 

23,738 

24,799 

21,181

Exposure to currency and liquidity risk relating to trade and other payables is disclosed in Note 28.

The Company movement in trade and other payables during the year is reconciled as follows:

Trade payables at 1 January 
Inter-group dividend settled via reduction in inter-group loan balance 
Group relief settled via reduction in inter-group loan balance 
Inter-group interest (refer Note 27) 
Stamp duty on share buybacks accrued to equity 
Movement in working capital in statement of cash flows 

  31 December 2013   31 December 2012  

£000 

£000

21,181 
(77,640) 
(11,565) 
517 
37 
92,269 

93,315
(160,197)
(3,128)
565
(15)
90,641

24,799 

21,181

19 Loans and borrowings

The Group entered into a 12 month agreement with HSBC Bank plc for a £10,000,000 committed revolving loan facility on 10 February 
2014. To date no amount has been drawn under this facility.

The Company had no loans and borrowings in either year.

20 Provisions

The Group booked a provision for lease dilapidations of £35,000 during the year (2012: £129,000) bringing the lease dilapidations provision 
to £164,000 (2012: £129,000). The provision is charged throughout the life of the lease and is based on an estimated cost to make good 
per square foot multiplied by the floor area of each premise.

The Company had no provisions in either year.

91

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes continued

21 Deferred tax assets

Deferred tax assets are attributable to the following:

Group  

Share-based incentives 
Property, plant and equipment 
Provisions 

Tax assets 

Assets
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

5,338 
213 
84 

9,347
227
93

5,635 

9,667

The deferred tax asset relating to share-based incentives at 31 December 2013 is £5,338,000 (2012: £9,347,000). The decrease in the 
deferred tax asset is due to the exercise of share-based incentives and a reduction in the future tax rate at which deferred tax has been 
recognised from 23% to 20%, partly offset by an increase in the Company’s share price from £14.36 at 31 December 2012 to £27.40  
at 31 December 2013. 

Company   

Assets
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

Share-based incentives being tax assets 

3,357 

7,692

The decrease in the deferred tax asset is due to the exercise of share-based incentives and a reduction in the future tax rate at which deferred 
tax has been recognised from 23% to 20%, partly offset by an increase in the Company’s share price from £14.36 at 31 December 2012 to 
£27.40 at 31 December 2013.

Movement in deferred tax during the year:

Group 

Share-based incentives 
Property, plant and equipment 
Provisions 

Company   

1 January 2013 

in income 

directly in equity  31 December 2013 

Recognised 

Recognised 

£000  

9,347 
227 
93 

£000  

(309) 
(14) 
(9) 

£000  

(3,700) 
– 
– 

£000

5,338
213
84

9,667 

(332) 

(3,700) 

5,635

Recognised 

Recognised 

1 January 2013 

in income 

directly in equity  31 December 2013 

£000  

£000  

£000  

£000

Share-based incentives 

7,692 

(224) 

(4,111) 

3,357

Reductions in the UK corporation tax rate from 26% to 24% (effective from 1 April 2012) and to 23% (effective 1 April 2013) were 
substantively enacted on 26 March 2012 and 3 July 2012 respectively. Further reductions to 21% (effective from 1 April 2014) and 20% 
(effective from 1 April 2015) were substantively enacted on 2 July 2013. This will reduce the Company’s future current tax charge accordingly. 
The deferred tax asset at 31 December 2013 has been calculated based on the rate of 20% substantively enacted at the balance sheet date. 

92

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21 Deferred tax assets continued

Movement in deferred tax during the prior year:

Group 

Share-based incentives 
Property, plant and equipment 
Provisions 

1 January 2012 

in income 

directly in equity  31 December 2012 

Recognised 

Recognised 

£000  

10,402 
199 
83 

£000  

110 
28 
10 

£000  

(1,165) 
– 
– 

£000

9,347
227
93

10,684 

148 

(1,165) 

9,667

The deferred tax asset arising on equity settled share-based incentives in both years was recognised in profit or loss to the extent that the 
related equity settled share-based incentives charge was recognised in profit or loss.

Company   

Recognised 

Recognised 

1 January 2012 

in income 

directly in equity  31 December 2012 

£000  

£000  

£000  

£000

Share-based incentives 

8,373 

88 

(769) 

7,692

22 Share capital

In issue  
At 1 January  
Purchase and cancellation of own shares 

At 31 December 

Authorised – par value £0.01 each 

Ordinary shares 

of £0.01 each
  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
Number of shares
  Number of shares 

105,896,115 
(2,780,380) 

110,410,636
(4,514,521)

103,115,735 

105,896,115

300,000,000 

300,000,000

During 2013, 2,780,380 (2012: 4,514,521) ordinary shares were bought back by the Company and were subsequently cancelled.  
Further details are disclosed in Note 23.

All issued shares are fully paid. The holders of ordinary shares are entitled to receive dividends as declared from time to time and are  
entitled to one vote per ordinary share at general meetings of the Company.

Included within shares in issue at 31 December 2013 are 740,324 ordinary shares (2012: 3,404,029) held by the EBT and 2,505,430  
(2012: 2,505,430) held in treasury.

93

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Notes continued

23 Reconciliation of movement in capital and reserves

Group 

At 1 January 2012 
Profit for the year 
Share-based payments  
Tax credit in respect of share-based  

incentives recognised directly in equity 

Dividends to shareholders 
Exercise of share-based incentives 
Cancellation of own shares 
Share related expenses 

Share 

capital 

£000 

1,104 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
(45) 
– 

EBT 

shares 

reserve 

£000 

(10,258) 
– 
– 

– 
– 
2,347 
– 
– 

Treasury 

shares 

£000 

(11,917) 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

Reverse 

Other 

acquisition 

reserves 

reserve 

£000 

190 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
45 
– 

£000 

138 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

Retained 

earnings 

£000 

45,397 
62,551 
2,410 

2,136 
(20,439) 
680 
(66,359) 
(467) 

Total 

equity 

£000

24,654
62,551
2,410

2,136
(20,439)
3,027
(66,359)
(467)

At 31 December 2012 

1,059 

(7,911) 

(11,917) 

235 

138 

25,909 

7,513

At 1 January 2013 
Profit for the year 
Share-based payments 
Tax credit in respect of share-based  

incentives recognised directly in equity 

Dividends to shareholders 
Exercise of share-based incentives 
Cancellation of own shares 
Share related expenses 

1,059 
– 
– 

(7,911) 
– 
– 

(11,917) 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
(28) 
– 

– 
– 
5,493 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

235 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
28 
– 

138 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

25,909 
74,335 
2,408 

7,006 
(25,126) 
(1,753) 
(60,537) 
(424) 

7,513
74,335
2,408

7,006
(25,126)
3,740
(60,537)
(424)

At 31 December 2013 

1,031 

(2,418) 

(11,917) 

263 

138 

21,818 

8,915

Share buyback
In June 2007, the Company commenced a share buyback programme to purchase its own ordinary shares. The total number of shares 
bought back in 2013 was 2,780,380 (2012: 4,514,521) representing 2.7% (2012: 4.2%) of the ordinary shares in issue (excluding shares  
held in treasury). All of the shares bought back in both years were cancelled. The shares were acquired on the open market at a total 
consideration (excluding costs) of £60,537,000 (2012: £66,359,000). The maximum and minimum prices paid were £26.50 (2012: £16.00)  
and £14.49 (2012: £12.65) per share respectively.

EBT shares reserve
This reserve represents the carrying value of own shares held by the EBT. 2,971,962 (2012: 1,123,754) share-based incentives were 
exercised by Group employees during the year at an average price of £3.39 (2012: £2.69) per ordinary share of which 2,663,705 were 
satisfied by shares held in the EBT. At 31 December 2013 the EBT held 740,324 (2012: 3,404,029) ordinary shares in the Company of 
£0.01 each, representing 0.7% (2012: 3.2%) of the ordinary shares in issue (excluding shares held in treasury). The market value of the 
shares held in the EBT at 31 December 2013 was £20,285,000 (2012: £48,882,000).

Shares held in EBT at 1 January 
Share-based incentives exercised in period 
Reduction in shares released from EBT due to net settlement (refer Note 24) 

Year ended  

Year ended  
  31 December 2013   31 December 2012  
  Number of shares   Number of shares

3,404,029 
(2,971,962) 
308,257 

4,527,783
(1,123,754)
–

Shares held in EBT at period end 

740,324 

3,404,029

94

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23 Reconciliation of movement in capital and reserves continued

Treasury shares
This represents the cost of acquiring 2,505,430 shares held in treasury. These shares were bought back in 2008 at an average price of  
£4.76 and may be used to satisfy certain share-based incentive awards.

Other reserves
This represents the cumulative value of own shares bought back and cancelled. The movement of £28,000 (2012: £45,000) is the nominal 
value of ordinary shares cancelled during the year.

Retained earnings
The gain on the exercise of share-based incentives is the difference between the value that the shares held by the EBT were originally 
acquired at and the price at which share-based incentives were exercised during the year.

Company  

At 1 January 2012 
Profit for the year 
Dividends to shareholders  
Share-based payments  
Tax credit in respect of share-based  

incentives recognised directly in equity 

Capital contribution  
Cancellation of own shares 
Share related expenses 

Share 

capital 

£000 

1,104 
– 
– 
– 

– 
– 
(45) 
– 

Treasury 

shares 

£000 

(11,917) 
– 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 

Reverse 

Other 

acquisition 

reserves 

£000 

3,274 
– 
– 
– 

– 
834 
45 
– 

reserve 

£000 

103,520 
– 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 

Retained 

earnings 

£000 

359,171 
155,761 
(20,439) 
1,576 

1,381 
– 
(66,359) 
(467) 

Total 

equity 

£000

455,152
155,761
(20,439)
1,576

1,381
834
(66,359)
(467)

At 31 December 2012 

1,059 

(11,917) 

4,153 

103,520 

430,624 

527,439

At 1 January 2013 
Profit for the year 
Dividends to shareholders  
Share-based payments  
Tax credit in respect of share-based  

incentives recognised directly in equity 

Capital contribution  
Cancellation of own shares 
Share related expenses 

1,059 
– 
– 
– 

– 
– 
(28) 
– 

(11,917) 
– 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 

4,153 
– 
– 
– 

– 
792 
28 
– 

103,520 
– 
– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 

430,624 
71,015 
(25,126) 
1,616 

5,503 
– 
(60,537) 
(424) 

527,439
71,015
(25,126)
1,616

5,503
792
(60,537)
(424)

At 31 December 2013 

1,031 

(11,917) 

4,973 

103,520 

422,671 

520,278

Treasury shares
This represents the cost of acquiring 2,505,430 shares held in treasury. These shares were bought back in 2008 at an average price of  
£4.76 and may be used to satisfy certain share-based incentive awards.

Reverse acquisition reserve
This reserve resulted from the acquisition of Rightmove Group Limited by the Company and represents the difference between the value  
of the shares acquired at 28 January 2008 and the nominal value of the shares issued.

Other reserves
Awards relating to share-based incentives made to Rightmove Group Limited employees have been treated as a deemed capital 
contribution. The principal movement in other reserves for the year comprises £792,000 (2012: £834,000) in respect of the share-based 
incentives charge for employees of Rightmove Group Limited. In addition a movement of £28,000 (2012: £45,000) has been recorded in 
relation to the nominal value of ordinary shares cancelled during the year.

95

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Notes continued

24 Share-based payments

The Group and Company operate share-based incentive schemes for executive directors and other selected senior management employees. 
Since flotation, the Company has awarded share options under the Rightmove Unapproved Executive Share Option Plan (Unapproved Plan)  
and the Rightmove Approved Executive Share Option Plan (Approved Plan). The Group also operates a Savings Related Share Option Scheme 
(Sharesave Plan), a Deferred Share Bonus Plan (DSP) and in May 2011 the Rightmove Performance Share Plan (PSP) was introduced. 

All share-based incentives are subject to a service condition. Such conditions are not taken into account in the fair value of the service 
received. The fair value of services received in return for share-based incentives is measured by reference to the fair value of share-based 
incentives granted. The estimate of the fair value of the share-based incentives is measured using either the Monte Carlo or Black Scholes 
pricing model as is most appropriate for each scheme.

During 2013 the Group amended the rules of the Unapproved Plan to enable such awards to be net settled whereby the number of shares 
released by the EBT and sold to satisfy the award is equivalent to the gain due to the option holder. Consequently no proceeds are received by 
the EBT on exercise of unapproved share options.

The total share-based payments charge for the year relating to all share-based incentive plans was £2,408,000 (2012: £2,410,000).

A 2% reduction in the employee leaver assumption (excluding executive directors) for the DSP and the PSP would have increased the  
share-based payments charge in the year by £40,000 (2012: £42,000). A 2% increase in the employee leaver assumption would have  
reduced the share-based payments charge by £40,000 (2012: £42,000).

The Company charge for the year was £1,616,000 (2012: £1,576,000).

NI is being accrued, where applicable, at a rate of 13.8%, which management expects to be the prevailing rate when the awards are exercised, based on 
the share price at the reporting date. The total NI charge for the year ended 31 December 2013 relating to all awards is £4,538,000 (2012: £2,041,000).

The total Company NI charge for the year was £4,043,000 (2012: £1,248,000).

Approved and Unapproved Plans
There has been no award of share options since 5 March 2010. 

Unapproved executive share option awards granted on 5 March 2010, at an exercise price of £6.66, vested in full on 5 March 2013.  
They were subject to an equal measure of Total Shareholder Return (TSR) relevant to the constituents of the FTSE250 and growth in earnings 
per share (EPS) over a three year performance period.

The assumptions used in the measurement of the fair values at grant date of the Approved and Unapproved Plans are as follows:

 Employee turnover 

before vesting/  

Share price 

Exercise 

Expected 

Risk free 

Dividend 

non-vesting 

Fair value 

Grant date 

at grant date 

(pence) 

price 

(pence) 

volatility 

 Option life 

(%) 

(years) 

14 March 2006 (Approved) 
15 March 2006 (Unapproved) 
15 March 2006 (Unapproved) 
12 October 2006 (Unapproved) 
 6 September 2007 (Approved) 
 6 September 2007 (Unapproved) 
10 October 2007 

413.50 
413.75 
413.75 
348.00 
613.00 
613.00 

410.00 
335.00 
335.00 
347.00 
597.00 
597.00 

(Unapproved EPS dependent)(1) 

525.00 

522.00 

 5 March 2009 

(Unapproved TSR dependent)(1) 

226.75 

224.00 

 5 March 2010

(Unapproved TSR dependent)(1) 

677.00 

666.00 

 5 March 2010

(Unapproved EPS dependent)(1) 

677.00 

666.00 

27.0 
27.0 
27.0 
27.0 
32.0 
32.0 

32.0 

50.3 

49.0 

49.0 

7.0 
7.0 
6.0 
7.0 
7.0 
7.0 

6.8 

6.5 

6.5 

6.5 

rate 

(%) 

4.5 
4.5 
4.5 
4.5 
5.8 
5.8 

5.8 

2.6 

3.2 

3.2 

yield 

(%) 

condition 

per option 

(%) 

(pence)

4.0 
4.0 
3.0 
4.0 
2.0 
2.0 

2.0 

4.4 

1.5 

1.5 

16.0 
0.0 
16.0 
16.0 
17.0 
17.0 

92.00
116.00
130.00
76.00
228.00
181.00

17.0 

189.00

12.0 

69.00

12.0 

267.00

12.0 

312.00

(1)  For details of TSR and EPS performance conditions refer to the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 37 to 62.

96

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24 Share-based payments continued

Expected volatility is estimated by considering historic average share price volatility at the grant date.

Group and Company 

Outstanding at 1 January 
Exercised 

  2013 
  Weighted average 
exercise price 
(pence) 

Number 

3,469,875 
(2,785,835) 

357.83 
352.74 

  2012

  Weighted average 

Number 

4,343,545 
(873,670) 

exercise price 

(pence)

349.78
317.83

Outstanding at 31 December 

684,040 

378.56 

3,469,875 

357.83

Exercisable at 31 December 

684,040 

378.56 

3,049,996 

315.40

The weighted average market value per ordinary share for options exercised in 2013 was £19.97 (2012: £15.90).

The options outstanding at 31 December 2013 have an exercise price in the range of £2.24 to £6.66 (2012: £2.24 to £6.66) and a weighted 
average contractual life of 5.3 years (2012: 4.5 years).

The share-based payments charge for approved and unapproved executive share options for the year ended 31 December 2013 is  
£91,000 (2012: £512,000).

The Company charge for the year was £49,000 (2012: £332,000).

Sharesave Plan
The Group operates an HMRC Approved Sharesave Plan under which employees are granted an option to purchase ordinary shares in the 
Company at up to 20% less than the market price at invitation, in three years’ time, dependent on their entering into a contract to make 
monthly contributions into a savings account over the relevant period. These funds are used to fund the option exercise. No performance 
criteria are applied to the exercise of Sharesave options. The assumptions used in the measurement of the fair value at grant date of the 
Sharesave Plan are as follows:

Grant date 

1 October 2009 
5 October 2010 
3 October 2011 
1 October 2012 
1 October 2013 

Share price 

Exercise 

Expected 

Risk free 

Dividend 

non-vesting 

Fair value 

at grant date 

(pence) 

price 

(pence) 

volatility 

 Option life 

(%) 

(years) 

545.00 
745.50 
1200.00 
1577.00 
2371.00 

425.00 
553.00 
988.00 
1295.00 
1896.00 

50.3 
49.0 
42.9 
34.8 
27.3 

3.3 
3.3 
3.3 
3.3 
3.3 

rate 

(%) 

3.5 
2.3 
2.8 
0.5 
0.7 

yield 

(%) 

4.4 
1.6 
1.3 
1.3 
1.1 

condition 

per option 

(%) 

(pence)

25.0 
25.0 
25.0 
25.0 
25.0 

199.00
318.00
446.00
475.00
659.00

 Employee turnover 

before vesting/  

Expected volatility is estimated by considering historic average share price volatility at the grant date.

The requirement that an employee has to save in order to purchase shares under the Sharesave Plan is a non-vesting condition. This feature 
has been incorporated into the fair value at grant date by applying a discount to the valuation obtained from the Black Scholes pricing 
model. The discount has been determined by estimating the probability that the employee will stop saving based on expected future trends 
in the share price and past employee behaviour.

97

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Notes continued

24 Share-based payments continued

Group and Company 

Outstanding at 1 January 
Granted  
Forfeited  
Exercised 

  2013 
  Weighted average 
exercise price 
(pence) 

Number 

118,229 
38,643 
(12,327) 
(46,925) 

884.47 
1896.00 
1041.95 
506.64 

  2012

  Weighted average 

Number 

145,982 
40,136 
(8,190) 
(59,699) 

exercise price 

(pence)

572.10
1295.00
703.15
420.92

Outstanding at 31 December 

97,620 

1446.19 

118,229 

884.47

Exercisable at 31 December 

1,300 

553.00 

16,994 

425.00

The weighted average market value per ordinary share for Sharesave options exercised in 2013 was £23.34 (2012: £15.82).

The Sharesave options outstanding at 31 December 2013 have an exercise price in the range of £5.53 to £18.96 (2012: £4.25 to £12.95) 
and a weighted average contractual life of 2.1 years (2012: 1.8 years).

The share-based payments charge for Sharesave options for the year ended 31 December 2013 is £121,000 (2012: £129,000).

The Company charge for the year was £2,000 (2012: £4,000).

Performance Share Plan (PSP)
The PSP permits awards of nil cost options or contingent shares which will only vest in the event of prior satisfaction of a  
performance condition.

119,065 PSP awards were made on 8 March 2013 (the Grant Date) subject to EPS and TSR performance. Performance will be measured 
over three financial years (1 January 2013 – 31 December 2015). The vesting in March 2016 (Vesting Date) of 25% of the 2013 PSP award 
will be dependent on a relative TSR performance condition measured over a three year performance period and the vesting of the 75% of the 
2013 PSP award will be dependent on the satisfaction of an EPS growth target measured over a three year performance period. PSP award 
holders are entitled to receive dividends accruing between the Grant Date and the Vesting Date and this value will be delivered in shares.

The PSP awards have been valued using the Monte Carlo model for the TSR element and the Black Scholes model for the EPS element  
and the resulting share-based payments charge is being spread evenly over the period between the Grant Date and the Vesting Date.

Grant date 

Share price 

Exercise 

at grant date 

(pence) 

price 

(pence) 

Expected 

volatility 

(%) 

Option 

 life 

(years) 

4 May 2011 (TSR dependent)(1) 
1039.00 
4 May 2011 (EPS dependent)(1) 
1039.00 
2 March 2012 (TSR dependent)(1)  1391.00 
2 March 2012 (EPS dependent)(1)  1391.00 
8 March 2013 (TSR dependent)(1)  1781.00 
8 March 2013 (EPS dependent)(1)  1781.00 

nil 
nil 
nil 
nil 
nil 
nil 

42.9 
n/a 
34.8 
n/a 
27.3 
n/a 

2.8 
2.8 
3.0 
3.0 
3.0 
3.0 

 Employee turnover 

before vesting/ 

Risk free 

Dividend 

non-vesting 

Fair value 

rate 

(%) 

1.4 
1.4 
0.5 
0.5 
0.4 
0.4 

yield 

(%) 

0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 

condition 

per option 

(%) 

(pence)

3.1 
3.1 
3.7 
3.7 
4.8 
4.8 

739.00
1039.00
708.00
1391.00
1003.00
1781.00

(1) For details of TSR and EPS performance conditions refer to the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 37 to 62.

Expected volatility is estimated by considering historic average share price volatility at the Grant Date.

98

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24 Share-based payments continued

Group and Company 

Outstanding at 1 January 
Granted  
Forfeited  

Outstanding at 31 December 

Exercisable at 31 December 

  2013 
  Weighted average 
exercise price 
(pence) 

Number 

288,424 
119,065 
(16,432) 

391,057 

– 

– 
– 
– 

– 

– 

  2012

  Weighted average 

Number 

164,258 
156,685 
(32,519) 

288,424 

– 

exercise price 

(pence)

–
–
–

–

–

The PSP awards outstanding at 31 December 2013 have a weighted average contractual life of 3.0 years (2012: 3.7 years).

The share-based payments charge for the year ended 31 December 2013 is £1,471,000 (2012: £948,000).

The Company charge for the year was £1,054,000 (2012: £685,000).

Deferred Share Bonus Plan (DSP)
In March 2009 a DSP was established which allows executive directors and other selected senior management the opportunity to earn  
a bonus determined as a percentage of base salary settled in nil cost deferred shares. The award of shares under the plan is contingent on 
the satisfaction of pre-set internal targets relating to underlying drivers of long-term revenue growth (the Performance Period). The right to  
the shares is deferred for two years from the date of the award (the Vesting Period) and potentially forfeitable during that period should the 
employee leave employment. The deferred share awards have been valued using the Black Scholes model and the resulting share-based 
payments charge is being spread evenly over the combined Performance Period and Vesting Period of the shares, being three years.

The assumptions used in the measurement of the fair value of the deferred share awards are calculated at the date on which the potential 
DSP bonus is communicated to senior management (the Grant Date) as follows:

Grant date 

5 March 2009 
5 March 2010 
4 March 2011 
2 March 2012 
8 March 2013 

Share price 
at grant date 

Award date 

(pence) 

 5 March 2010 
 4 March 2011 
 2 March 2012(1) 
 8 March 2013(2) 
–(3) 

226.75 
677.00 
1039.00 
1391.00 
1781.00 

Exercise 
price 

(pence) 

Expected 
 term 

(years) 

nil 
nil 
nil 
nil 
nil 

3.0 
3.0 
2.8 
3.0 
3.0 

 Employee turnover 

before vesting/  

Risk free 
rate 

Dividend 
yield 

non-vesting 
condition 

(%) 

(%) 

2.6 
3.2 
1.4 
0.5 
0.4 

4.4 
1.5 
1.4 
1.3 
1.4 

(%) 

12.0 
12.0 
3.4 
4.1 
5.3 

Fair value 
per share 

(pence)

199.00
648.00
1000.00
1338.00
1708.00

(1)   Following the achievement of the 2011 internal performance targets, 76,048 nil cost option deferred shares were awarded to executives 
and senior management on 2 March 2012 (the Award Date) with the right to the release of the shares deferred until March 2014.

(2)  Following the achievement of 90% of the 2012 internal performance targets, 63,331 nil cost deferred shares were awarded to executives 
and senior management on 8 March 2013 (the Award Date) with the right to the release of the shares deferred until March 2015.

(3)   Based on the 2013 internal performance targets, the Remuneration Committee determined that 85% of the maximum award in respect 
of the year will be made in March 2014. The number of shares to be awarded will be determined based on the share price at the Award Date 
in March 2014.

99

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Notes continued

24 Share-based payments continued

Group and Company 

Outstanding at 1 January 
Awarded 
Forfeited  
Exercised 

Outstanding at 31 December 

Exercisable at 31 December 

  2013 
  Weighted average 
exercise price 
(pence) 

Number 

217,652 
63,331 
(7,848) 
(139,202) 

133,933 

– 

– 
– 
– 
– 

– 

– 

  2012

  Weighted average 

Number 

331,989 
76,048 
– 
(190,385) 

217,652 

25,573 

exercise price 

(pence)

–
–
–
–

–

–

The weighted average market value per ordinary share for deferred shares exercised in 2013 was £20.44 (2012: £15.44).

The DSP awards outstanding at 31 December 2013 have a weighted average contractual life of 1.1 years (2012: 0.9 years).

The share-based payments charge for the year ended 31 December 2013 is £725,000 (2012: £821,000).

The Company charge for the year was £511,000 (2012: £555,000).

25 Operating lease commitments

Non-cancellable operating lease rentals are payable as follows:

31 December 2013 

31 December 2012

Plant & machinery 

Land & buildings 

Plant & machinery 

Land & buildings 

Group 

Less than one year 
Between one and five years 
More than five years 

£000 

248 
179 
– 

427 

£000 

949 
2,682 
882 

Total  
£000 

1,197 
2,861 
882 

£000 

949 
3,338 
1,175 

Total 

£000

1,357
3,569
1,175

4,513 

4,940 

5,462 

6,101

£000 

408 
231 
– 

639 

The Company had no operating lease commitments in either year.

26 Capital commitments

As at 31 December 2013 the Group had no significant capital expenditure commitments (2012: £nil). 

The Company had no capital commitments in either year.

100

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27 Related party disclosures

Inter-group transactions with subsidiaries
During the year the Company was charged interest of £517,000 (2012: £565,000) by Rightmove Group Limited in respect of balances  
owing under the inter-group loan agreement dated 30 January 2008.

As at 31 December 2013 the balance owing under this agreement was £21,031,000 (2012: £15,318,000) including capitalised interest  
(refer Note 18).

On 12 December 2013 Rightmove Group Limited declared an interim dividend of 60.0p per ordinary share to the Company. The dividend  
of £77,640,000 was settled via a reduction in the inter-group loan balance owed by Rightmove plc to Rightmove Group Limited.

Directors’ transactions
There were no transactions with directors in either year other than those disclosed in the Directors’ Remuneration Report. Information on  
the emoluments of the directors, who served during the year, together with information regarding the beneficial interest of the directors in the 
ordinary shares of the Company is included in the Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 37 to 62.

During the year the directors in office in total had gains of £13,539,000 (2012: £10,003,000) arising on the exercise of share-based  
incentive awards.

Key management personnel
No other Rightmove employees are considered to meet the definition of key management personnel other than those disclosed in the 
Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 37 to 62.

28 Financial instruments

Credit risk
The carrying amount of financial assets represents the maximum credit exposure. The maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting  
date was:

Net trade receivables 
Amounts held in Escrow 
Accrued interest receivable 
Other debtors 
Cash and cash equivalents 

Note 

16 
16 
16 
16 
17 

Group

  31 December 2013   31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

19,146 
1,680 
41 
89 
6,799 

16,037
1,674
50
64
7,082

27,755 

24,907

The Company had no exposure to credit risk in either year.

The maximum exposure to credit risk for trade receivables at the reporting date by geographic region was:

Group  

UK   
Rest of the world 

Note  

  31 December 2013   31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

19,007 
139 

15,954
83

16 

19,146 

16,037

101

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes continued

28 Financial instruments continued

The maximum exposure to credit risk for trade receivables at the reporting date by type of customer was:

Group  

Property advertisers 
Other 

Note  

  31 December 2013   31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

18,325 
821 

14,956
1,081

16 

19,146 

16,037

The Group’s most significant customer accounts for £1,574,000 (2012: £968,000) of the trade receivables carrying amount.

Impairment losses
The ageing of trade receivables at the reporting date was:

Group 

Not past due 
Past due 0 – 30 days 
Past due 30 – 60 days 
Past due 60 – 90 days 
Past due older 

31 December 2013 

31 December 2012

Gross 

£000 

12,663 
3,607 
2,710 
429 
173 

Impairment 
£000 

(30) 
(44) 
(109) 
(189) 
(64) 

Gross 

£000 

10,140 
3,357 
2,522 
263 
202 

19,582 

(436) 

16,484 

Impairment 

£000

(15)
(236)
(124)
(38)
(34)

(447)

The movement in the allowance for impairment in respect of trade receivables during the year was as follows:

Group  

At 1 January  
Charged during the year 
Utilised during the year 

At 31 December 

  31 December 2013  31 December 2012 
£000

£000  

447 
235 
(246) 

436 

429
198
(180)

447

The Group has identified specific balances for which it has provided an impairment allowance on a line by line basis across all ledgers, in 
both years. No general impairment allowance has been provided in either year. 

The allowance accounts in respect of trade receivables are used to record impairment losses unless the Group is satisfied that no recovery 
of the amount owing is possible; at that point the amounts considered irrecoverable are written off against the financial asset directly.

102

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28 Financial instruments continued

Liquidity risk
The following are the contractual maturities of undiscounted financial liabilities, including undiscounted estimated interest payments:

Group 

At 31 December 2013 
Trade payables being non-derivative financial liabilities 

Group 

At 31 December 2012 
Trade payables being non-derivative financial liabilities 

The Company had no non-derivative financial liabilities in either year.

Carrying 

amount 

£000  

Contractual 

cash flows 

£000  

6 months  

or less 

£000

685 

(685) 

(685)

Carrying 

amount 

£000  

Contractual 

cash flows 

£000  

6 months  

or less 

£000

1,220 

(1,220) 

(1,220)

It is not expected that the cash flows included in the maturity analysis could occur earlier or at significantly different amounts and all payables 
are due within six months of the balance sheet date.

Currency risk
During 2013 all the Group’s sales and more than 95.0% (2012: 95.0%) of the Group’s purchases were Sterling denominated and accordingly  
it has no significant currency risk.

Interest rate risk
The Group and the Company have exposure to interest rate risk on their cash balances and amounts held in Escrow. As at  
31 December 2013 the Group had total cash of £6,799,000 (2012: £7,082,000) and £1,680,000 (2012: £1,674,000) held in Escrow.

Fair values
The fair values of all financial instruments in both years are equal to the carrying values.

29 Contingent liabilities

The Group and the Company had no contingent liabilities in either year.

30 Subsequent events

There have been no subsequent events having a material impact on the financial statements between 31 December 2013 and the reporting date.

103

Strategic reportGovernanceFinancial statementsRightmove plc annual report 2013 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Advisers and shareholder information

Contacts
Chief Executive Officer: 
Chief Operating Officer:  
Finance Director and 
Company Secretary: 
Website:  

Nick McKittrick
Peter Brooks-Johnson

Robyn Perriss
www.rightmove.co.uk

Registered office
Rightmove plc
Turnberry House
30 Caldecotte Lake Drive
Milton Keynes
MK7 8LE
Registered in
England no. 6426485

Financial calendar 2014
2013 full year results  
Annual General Meeting 
Final dividend record date 
Final dividend payment 
Interim Management Statement  May, November 2014
Half year results 
Interim dividend 

28 February 2014
7 May 2014
9 May 2014
6 June 2014

30 July 2014
November 2014

Corporate advisers

Financial adviser
UBS Investment Bank  

Joint brokers
UBS Limited
Numis Securities Limited

Auditor
KPMG Audit Plc

Bankers
Barclays Bank Plc
HSBC Bank plc
Santander UK Plc

Solicitors
Slaughter and May
Pinsent Masons

Registrar
Capita Asset Services*

*Shareholder enquiries
The Company’s registrar is Capita Asset Services. They will be pleased  
to deal with any questions regarding your shareholding or dividends.  
Please notify them of your change of address or other personal information. 
Their address details are:

Capita Asset Services
The Registry
34 Beckenham Road
Beckenham
Kent
BR3 4TU

Capita Asset Services is a trading name of Capita Registrars Limited.

Capita shareholder helpline: 0871 664 0300  
(calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras)  
(Overseas: +44 20 8639 3399)
Email: shareholderenquiries@capita.co.uk
Share portal: www.capitashareportal.com

Through the website of our registrar, Capita Asset Services, shareholders  
are able to manage their shareholding online and facilities include 
electronic communications, account enquiries, amendment of address 
and dividend mandate instructions.

104

www.rightmove.co.uk 
 
 
Designed and produced by Teampublishing  www.teampublishing.co.uk

Rightmove plc 

Turnberry House  
30 Caldecotte Lake Drive  
Caldecotte, Milton Keynes  
MK7 8LE

Registered in England no 6426485