Stalled growth at comparison site Moneysupermarket.com

The battle of price comparison websites claimed a casualty as leading player Moneysupermarket.com said sales growth stalled last month.

But the Chester-based group said it remains confident in its prospects after posting a 71% surge in pre-tax profits to £15.1 million in the first six months of the year.

The company which makes money by directing people to the websites of banks, insurers, airlines, mobile phone operators and utility giants saw group revenues increase by 10% to £112.3m during the first half, bolstered by its £87m acquisition of the advice website MoneySavingExpert in September last year.

But it has already warned over losing out in the battle for car and home insurance customers thanks to changes to Google’s search algorithms. The internet behemoth launched its own price comparison service last year.

Analysts at Numis Securities said the results were in line with expectations, but warned over the growing threat. Moneysupermarket also revealed finance director Paul Doughty is quitting after nine years, and will leave by June next year.

Shares fell 31.2p to 181p.