Online property listings site Rightmove (RMV) saw its shares come under pressure on news that chief executive Peter Brooks-Johnson will step down after the announcement of the next set of full year results in February 2023.
Despite having a decent period to plan for the succession it looks like the market will be sorry to see Brooks-Johnson go, with the shares down 6.8% to 521p.
Brooks-Johnson was chief operating officer before stepping up to the top job in May 2017 and has been with the business since 2006. The shares are up more than 20% over the course of his tenure, respectable given it encompasses the pandemic and the recent sell-off in highly valued stocks as well as the increased competitive threat posed by rivals like OnTheMarket (OTMP:AIM) and Zoopla.
NO IDENTIFIED SUCCESSOR IN PLACE
There may be some disappointment that, unlike when Brooks-Johnson took over from his predecessor Nick McKittrick, there is not an identified successor in place.
Chair Andrew Fisher commented: ‘Peter has made a significant contribution to the success of Rightmove over the past 16 years and whilst we are disappointed that he will be leaving the business, we understand his decision.’
Shore Capital analyst Roddy Davidson commented: ‘Whilst any change of CEO can lead to a degree of uncertainty, Rightmove has successfully met this challenge twice since it joined the public market.
‘The duration of the transition period highlighted above is also a source of reassurance. On previous occasions the successful candidate has come from within the business although it sounds like a broad search will be undertaken this time round.
‘In our view the principal challenge for an incoming CEO will be sustaining and developing Rightmove’s pricing architecture with ARPA (average revenue per advertiser) having increased very substantially over a protracted period pre-pandemic and recovered well thereafter despite evidence of resistance from agents.’
