Shares of Chester-based price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com fell about 9% on Thursday after a trading statement showed its growth slowed in the quarter ended September 30.

For the quarter, revenue rose 4% to £100.9 million.

Insurance revenue rose 3% to £49.9 million and Home Services revenue advanced 21% to £17.7 million.

However, revenue from Money products fell 5% to £20.6 million.

The firm said the Money unit underperformed amid “continuing challenges in product availability.”

Analysts at Peel Hunt wrote: “The mix of performance for Money and Home Services came as a surprise today.

“We expected Money to have been more robust while growth for Home Services to be slower after a very strong performance in H1.

“However, this has not been the case.

“The company has flagged that the Money segment is expected to weaken for the remainder of the year.

“The stock has been strong YTD, up c40%, therefore we expect the shares to drift slightly with today’s outlook.

“We maintain our Hold recommendation at target price of 350p.”

Moneysupermarket Group CEO Mark Lewis said: “The group continued to grow in the quarter, with strong trading in energy showing that there are still big savings to be made by customers even though the price cap is lower. 

“Even better, our Reinvent strategy continues to do more for our customers – the new MoneySuperMarket Energy Monitor service means our customers need never overpay for energy ever again.”

In its outlook, the firm said: “We expect the overall trading dynamics to continue to the end of the year and within that Money to weaken.

“The board remains confident of meeting current market expectations for the full year.”