Rightmove chief executive Nick McKittrick to step down

The chief executive of UK property website Rightmove is to step down after 16 years in the post.

Nick McKittrick will leave the company on 9 May following the annual general meeting and will be succeeded as CEO by current chief operating officer Peter Brooks-Johnson.

"Nick has served Rightmove with 16 years of leadership, as remarkable for his success as with the modest way he has achieved it," Rightmove chairman Scott Forbes said.

"The board always has a focus on long-term succession plans and in Peter we have a strong, experienced and ready successor who has held positions of responsibility for nearly every functional area within Rightmove."

Separately, the company announced revenues of £220m ($276.1m) for 2016 – a 15% improvement on the preceding 12-month period.

Underlying operating profit also advanced 15% to £166.2m.

McKittrick said: "Rightmove continues to be the place that home movers turn to first, with nearly 1.5 billion visits in 2016, up 10% on last year.

"Home movers spent nearly a billion minutes every month searching and researching homes on Rightmove."