Battle · 3 companies
Property and car portals
Location, location, domination
Autotrader leads on turnover, pre-tax profit and net assets; Rightmove on profit margin and growth. Autotrader is the biggest by turnover at £624m, against £425m at Rightmove. Rightmove keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £68.20 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. Rightmove and Autotrader file group accounts that include subsidiaries; Zoopla files for a single company, which flatters the groups on size.
Accounts compared: Rightmove to Dec 2025 · Zoopla to Dec 2025 · Autotrader to Mar 2026
The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AutotraderAutotrader Group PLC | £624m | +3.9% | £389m | 62.3% | 1,244 | £81,000 | £502,000 | £407m | £18m | Mar 2026 | Group |
| 2 | RightmoveRightmove PLC | £425m | +9.0% | £290m | 68.2% | 900 | £88,000 | £472,000 | £82m | £37m | Dec 2025 | Group |
| 3 | ZooplaZoopla Limited | £83m | -1.2% | £13m | 16.0% | 240 | £103,000 | £347,000 | £242m | £8k | Dec 2025 | Single company |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Autotrader
£624m
Most pre-tax profit
Autotrader
£389m
Highest profit margin
Rightmove
68.2%
Fastest-growing turnover
Rightmove
+9.0%
Biggest employer
Autotrader
1,244 staff
Highest pay per head
Zoopla
£103,000
Most turnover per head
Autotrader
£502,000
Largest net assets
Autotrader
£407m
Most cash
Rightmove
£37m
The Takeaway
- Rightmove converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £68.20 reaches pre-tax profit, against £16.02 at Zoopla.
- Autotrader is the largest on the top line, £624m of turnover, 1.5x Rightmove's £425m.
- Rightmove is growing fastest, turnover +9.0% on its own prior year. Zoopla went backwards.
- Autotrader is the biggest employer with 1,244 people; Zoopla pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £103,000.
- Autotrader has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £407m, while Rightmove holds the most cash at £37m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Rightmove keeps the most: £68.20 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Zoopla keeps the least, £16.02.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Autotrader (£624m), Rightmove (£425m), Zoopla (£83m).
By headcount, Autotrader leads with 1,244 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 3 months of each other. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Rightmove grew fastest, turnover +9.0% on its own prior year, ahead of Autotrader (+3.9%), Zoopla (-1.2%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Autotrader employs the most, 1,244 people, against 900 at Rightmove.
Zoopla has the highest average staff cost, about £103,000 a head; Autotrader the lowest, about £81,000.
Autotrader brings in the most turnover per employee, about £502,000, against £347,000 at Zoopla. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Owned by its shareholders
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register.
Who owns Rightmove →
Zoopla Limited · 06074771Held by Houseful Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control in the 75% to 100% band. 1 outstanding charge on the register.
Who owns Zoopla →
Autotrader Group PLC · 09439967Owned by its shareholders
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register.
Who owns Autotrader →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Rightmove | Zoopla | Autotrader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered name | RIGHTMOVE PLC | ZOOPLA LIMITED | AUTOTRADER GROUP PLC |
| Company number | 06426485 | 06074771 | 09439967 |
| Incorporated | 2007 | 2007 | 2015 |
| Accounts filed | 23 June 2026 | 15 September 2026 | 17 September 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £390m | £84m | £601m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £258m | -£5m | £376m |
| Staff costs | £79m | £25m | £100m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 18.5% | 29.6% | 16.1% |
| Employees, prior year | 861 | 356 | 1,267 |
| Dividends paid | £79m | n/d | £94m |
| Charges outstanding | 0 | 1 | 0 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Property and car portals: common questions
Who is the biggest of Rightmove, Zoopla or Autotrader?
Autotrader, with turnover of £624m in the year to March 2026.
Which makes the most profit?
Autotrader: £389m pre-tax in the year to March 2026.
Which employs the most people?
Autotrader, with 1,244 employees in its latest accounts.
Rightmove or Zoopla: which is bigger?
Rightmove, with turnover of £425m against £83m at Zoopla on their latest filings. On margin, Rightmove keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Rightmove or Autotrader: which is bigger?
Autotrader, with turnover of £624m against £425m at Rightmove on their latest filings. On margin, Rightmove keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Zoopla or Autotrader: which is bigger?
Autotrader, with turnover of £624m against £83m at Zoopla on their latest filings. On margin, Autotrader keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
Related
Rightmove v Zoopla: who keeps more of every £100?
VS SeriesAutotrader v Rightmove: turnover, profit and staff compared
VS Series PROPERTYHousebuilders
Building an empire, or on shaky foundations?
Barratt Redrow · Persimmon · Taylor Wimpey · Bellway · Berkeley · Vistry · Crest Nicholson · Bloor Homes · Miller Homes
9 companies compared →
RETAILDIY and trade
Nailed it, or coming unstuck?
Screwfix · Toolstation · Wickes · B&Q
4 companies compared →
RETAILMuseum trading arms
The companies behind the gift shops, cafés and licensing. Which one takes the most?
Royal Collection Trust shops · Tate shops · Historic Royal Palaces shops · Kew shops · V&A shops · British Museum shops · English Heritage shops · Science Museum shops · National Gallery shops
9 companies compared →