Gocompare shares leap after revealing first trading update as listed firm
Gocompare shares leapt over eight per cent after capping a "transformational year" by revealing full year profits will be at the top end of guidance.
The comparison website, which was spun-off from Esure in November last year, said its revenue had jumped by 19 per cent to £142m and adjusted operating profit was up by 30 per cent to £30m.
Read more: Gocompare spins-off and valued at £310m of spondoolicks
Chief exec Matthew Crummack was thanking his lucky stars on hearing the news:
2016 has been a transformational year for Gocompare. We completed the demerger of Gocompare from Esure group plc and strengthened the team at the executive level.
Furthermore, today’s announcement highlights that the group continues to deliver good trading results. We start 2017 from a position of confidence and look forward to delivering another year of strong growth.
The numbers were at the end high end of what was predicted in the firm's demerger prospectus and the group also revealed it had racked up plenty of spondoolicks to enable the firm to reduce its lending.
Read more: GoCompare float is go after shareholders approve Esure demerger
Gocompare's leverage multiple – the number of years of earnings the firm would need to generate to pay down its net lending – fell from 2.8x at the time of the demerger to 2.0x at the year end in December.