In the year ended 31 December 2008, the Group has performed well despite the challenging trading conditions that have been driven by the tightening credit markets and downturn in the economy. Group revenue has increased year on year by 10% from £162.9m to £178.8m and the Insurance, Travel and Home Services verticals have all continued to grow helping to compensate for the decline seen in the Money vertical.

Adjusted EBITDA declined in the year by 9% to £48.4m principally due to further investment in the Group's online offering and the increased customer acquisition costs in the Insurance vertical. The Group remained strongly cash generative and ended 2008 with no debt and the cash balance increasing during the year by £19.5m to £73.5m. We believe this demonstrates the resilience of our diversified business model in these difficult economic times.

Insurance is now the largest vertical in the Group, accounting for 43% of Group revenue. Revenue grew in the year by 38% to £77.7m (2007: £56.4m) albeit at a slowing rate as the year went on. This was driven both by improved commercial arrangements with providers and increased visitor numbers that were 20% higher than in 2007. We maintained a strong market position in a sector which continued to show growth during the year despite the increasing level of competition from other online aggregators who spent significantly on television advertising and bid aggressively on search engines. We believe we still have the most complete insurance comparison engine in the UK offering our customers the widest choice of providers together with a very strong brand.

During the course of 2008, and in particular in the second half of the year, the Money vertical felt the impact of the deepening global banking crisis. Revenue in the year declined by 10% to £68.3m (2007: £76.0m) as credit markets continued to tighten. With the UK consumer seeking to reduce debt and providers continuing to tighten their lending criteria, revenue declines were most notable in the loans and mortgages channels. Visitors to the Money vertical were however 27% higher in 2008 than in 2007 demonstrating the value of the website to our customers, particularly in times of uncertainty.

The impact of the credit crunch and the worsening economic conditions were particularly felt in the secured loans market which contracted substantially. In July, Barclays took the decision to close its subsidiary First Plus to new business with effect from August. First Plus had provided the Group with an exclusive market leading product and represented approximately 10% of Group revenue at the time it closed to new business. Although the Group was able to replace some of the revenue lost following the withdrawal by Barclays, the continued tightening of the supply of available credit throughout the year meant that revenue from secured lending in the second half of the year was significantly lower than the first half.

Savings showed the strongest growth in the Money vertical with revenue increasing by approximately 80% in the year as customers sought to spread their cash balances across a number of accounts to take advantage of the protection afforded by the Financial Services Authority Compensation Scheme, and to find the best returns as interest rates fell.