VS Series
Autotrader v Rightmove
Two online marketplaces, cars against houses
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 more of every £100 it takes, £68.20 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like.
Accounts compared: Autotrader to Mar 2026 · Rightmove to Dec 2025
Who they are
Autotrader
Autotrader Group PLC · 09439967Autotrader is an online marketplace for buying and selling new and used cars in the UK.In brief: online car marketplace · retailer subscriptions · pricing and data tools · listedFull profile →Rightmove
Rightmove PLC · 06426485Rightmove is a property website where people search for homes to buy or rent across the UK.In brief: property portal · sales and lettings listings · agent subscriptions · listedFull profile →The Numbers
The leader on each measure is marked. 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
Rightmove
£88,000
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 £62.28 at Autotrader.
- 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.
- Autotrader is the biggest employer with 1,244 people; Rightmove pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £88,000.
- 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. Autotrader keeps the least, £62.28.
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).
By headcount, Autotrader leads with 1,244 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 3 months of each other. All are on the same filing basis.
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%).
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.
Rightmove has the highest average staff cost, about £88,000 a head; Autotrader the lowest, about £81,000.
Autotrader brings in the most turnover per employee, about £502,000, against £472,000 at Rightmove. 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 Autotrader →
Rightmove PLC · 06426485Owned by its shareholders
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register.
Who owns Rightmove →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Autotrader | Rightmove |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | AUTOTRADER GROUP PLC | RIGHTMOVE PLC |
| Company number | 09439967 | 06426485 |
| Incorporated | 2015 | 2007 |
| Accounts filed | 17 September 2026 | 23 June 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £601m | £390m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £376m | £258m |
| Staff costs | £100m | £79m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 16.1% | 18.5% |
| Employees, prior year | 1,267 | 861 |
| Dividends paid | £94m | £79m |
| Charges outstanding | 0 | 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.
Autotrader v Rightmove: common questions
Who is the biggest of Autotrader or Rightmove?
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.
Autotrader or Rightmove: 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 →
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.
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