Moneysupermarket.Com boosted by energy supply switchers

LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Price comparison website Moneysupermarket.Com Group said people switching energy suppliers to avoid big rises in bills gave it a strong start to the fourth quarter and would help it beat earnings expectations for the year.

The company, whose website helps customers search for deals on insurance, utilities and other financial products, said revenues in the first weeks of October were up 25 percent on a year ago, while revenues for the proceeding third quarter were 5 percent ahead.

"Revenues from energy switching in particular have been very strong as consumers sought better deals in the face of rapidly rising domestic fuel bills announced by the majority of the major providers in the second half of October," it said on Wednesday.

Energy suppliers including market leader Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) and SSE (Berlin: SCT.BE - news) announced big rises in energy charges last month, with Centrica (Berlin: CENB.BE - news) raising prices by an average 9.2 percent.

Moneysupermarket.Com said it expected full-year core earnings to be a mid-single digit percentage ahead of current consensus expectations, which stand at 78.4 million pounds ($125.8 million) according to the company.

The group also said it had appointed Matthew Price, currently finance director at Whitbread (LSE: WTB.L - news) 's Costa Coffee, as its new finance director. He will start in the first quarter of 2014, the company said.