Plum times for price comparison website

The low oil price meant that gas and electricity firms stuck to their tariffs

The Big Six energy giants not raising prices this autumn hit business at comparison site MoneySuperMarket – although more Britons demand for credit card and travel deals mean its revenues will still rocket 10 per cent this year.

The low oil price meant that gas and electricity firms stuck to their present tariffs – although one provider, E.ON, has lowered its bills. This comes in stark contrast to autumn 2013 when price hikes led to a surge in households switching providers, giving a £7m boost to the coffers of Moneysavingexpert, the advice site purchased by MoneySuperMarket for £87m two years ago, as well as the main website.

As a result, the site saw revenues in the final three months of the year grow by only 4 per cent – well below the 18 per cent enjoyed in the previous quarter.

Still, the firm headed up by Peter Plumb reckons full-year revenues will grow by around 10 per cent to £248m. Much of the growth is from insurance, and loan providers are also competing hard to attract customers for credit cards.

Mr Plumb said: “More people are seeing how easy it is to compare products and prices online, for nothing, and save money.” Shares inched up half a penny to 226.4p.