Scout24 AG records further growth in Group revenues and profitability for the third quarter of 2015

DGAP-News: Scout24 AG / Key word(s): Quarter Results

2015-11-11 / 08:29

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Press Release 

Scout24 AG records further growth in Group revenues and profitability for
the third quarter of 2015

  - Strategic shift and focus on core businesses paying off

  - Robust topline growth with revenues up 15.8% to EUR 99.2m

  - Significant surge in profitability with ordinary operating EBITDA up
    33.7% to EUR 49.1m

  - On track to meet full year targets for 2015

Berlin / Munich, 11 November 2015 - Scout24 AG ("Scout24" or "the Group"),
leading operator of digital marketplaces specializing in the real estate
and automotive sectors in Germany and other selected European countries,
reported its consolidated financial results for the third quarter and the
first nine months of the financial year 2015.

Scout24 continued its growth path and has reached significant increases in
both revenues and profitability, mainly driven by the strong organic
performance of its core businesses and particularly through the
introduction of the membership model in ImmobilienScout24 ("IS24") and by
increasing customer numbers in all AutoScout24 ("AS24") core markets.
Furthermore, the Group's performance has also benefited from additional
capability acquisitions to strengthen the value chain offering as well as
from Management's focus on operational efficiency through continuous cost
base improvements and the generation of synergies between its two core
businesses. As a result, Scout24 Group revenues grew by 15.8% to EUR 99.2m
in the third quarter of 2015 (2014: EUR 85.7m), while ordinary operating
EBITDA surged 33.7% to EUR 49.1m in the third quarter of 2015 (2014: EUR
36.7m), improving profitability margins by approximately 6.6 percentage
points.

"Our business performance during 2015 is further proof that Scout24 remains
highly relevant to both our audiences and our customers and that we are on
a dynamic and steady growth track." said Greg Ellis, CEO of Scout24 Group
and added: "We are highly confident that we will meet our full year targets
for 2015 and are very positive about the Company's long term growth
prospects."

Business Development

The strategic shift and focus on the two core businesses is already paying
off, with revenue growth reaccelerating in both businesses.

IS24 external revenues grew by 16.8% compared to the three-month period
ended September 30, 2014. This increase is mainly driven by an increase in
revenues from core agents, benefitting from the introduction of the
membership model since October 2014. As of September 30, 2015, IS24 reached
a membership penetration of 71%, while core agent ARPU (average monthly
revenue per agent) in the three-month period ended September 30, 2015
increased to EUR 623 (+22.2% compared to the three-month period ended
September 30, 2014). The average number of core agents decreased by 1,561
to 20,324 as a result of smaller agents shifting to the professional
pay-per-ad model, some agents going out of business and churn, all of the
latter mainly driven by the introduction of the membership model and
regulatory changes in Germany that now require the landlord to pay the
agent ("Bestellerprinzip"). Despite the reduction in average agent numbers,
IS24's consumer proposition remained intact with the total number of
listings on the IS24 platform remaining broadly stable at 525 thousand
listings as per September 30, 2015.

At AS24, further significant growth was realized across all core
geographies. In Germany, following the strategy to focus on listings
leadership and enhancing the consumer experience with a revamped mobile
offering as well as the continuous execution of the dealer acquisition
strategy over the last twelve months AS24 has managed to increase the
number of listings in Germany by 10.5% to 1,133 thousand (versus 1,025
thousand in September 2014). Similarly, the average number of core dealers
increased to 21,976, representing an increase of 15.8% compared to the
three-month period ended September 30, 2014. Core dealer ARPU (average
monthly revenue per dealer) for the three-month period ended September 30,
2015, increased by 3.5% to EUR 171. In addition AS24 extended its market
leadership position with the combined number of listings in Belgium
(including Luxembourg), the Netherlands and Italy growing by 23% to 789
thousand (versus 643 thousand in September 2014). Furthermore, through the
roll-out of the "MIA" product in Benelux and Italy (a pricing approach
similar to the VIA power products in IS24), AS24 was able to increase the
number of core dealers by 6.8% compared to the three-month period ended
September 30, 2014 to 17,279, while core dealer ARPU grew by 8.1% to EUR
177.

In order to further support the Group's growth path, Scout24 recently
launched revamped advertising formats and packages. In addition, Scout24
upgraded the advertisement technology to improve targeting capabilities,
allow for programmatic advertising with real-time bidding and extend
audience. In line with the Group's OneScout24 strategy, a new comprehensive
business function called Scout24 Media was launched in September which
supports all ad sales activities, regardless of whether they are launched
on IS24 or AS24 platform. This initiative will help drive lead generation
and ad sales businesses and further enhance Scout24's position as a leading
premium and data-driven publisher in Germany and Europe.

Moreover, an important change in the Scout24 financing and ownership
structure was brought on its way through the Company's listing in the
regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on
October 1, 2015. With the IPO, Scout24 obtains direct access to the capital
markets and a broader shareholder base. The offering included 7,600,000 new
shares by way of a capital increase, corresponding to EUR 228 million gross
proceeds for Scout24, of which EUR 214 million were directed to the
repayment of financial liabilities in October 2015. Net financial debt  as
of September 30, 2015 was EUR 921.0m (December 31, 2014: EUR 624.2m).
Taking into account the aforementioned pay-down, pro forma net financial
debt as of September 30, 2015 was EUR 707.0m.

IPO related costs of EUR 5.4 million and additional non-operating costs of
EUR 2.8 million, affected the reported EBITDA for the third quarter 2015,
which amounted to EUR 40.9 million. However, the Group's ordinary operating
EBITDA improved by 33.7% to EUR 49.1 million, while the ordinary operating
EBITDA margin increased to 49.5% compared to 42.9% in the three-month
period ended September 30, 2014.

Summary Overview of Financial Results

The table below provides a summary overview of the Group's performance for
the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2015. Given the
Group's complex financial history, to facilitate year-over-year comparison
and to better represent the business trends and situation of Scout24,
additional, voluntary disclosure has been provided for the nine-month
period ended September 30, 2014 which is based on the sum of financials
from Scout24 Holding GmbH financial statements for the period January 1,
2014 to March 31, 2014 and Asa NewCo GmbH financial statements for the
period April 1, 2014 to September 30,14.



(in EUR million)    three-month                  nine-month
                    period  ended                period ended
                    Sep. 30 2015   Sep.    %     Sep. 30 2015  Sep.    %
                                   30 2014 chan                30 2014 chan
                                           ge                          ge
External Revenues   99.2           85.7    15.8% 288.4         252.9  14.0%
therein Core        98.4           85.0    15.8% 286.0         250.6  14.0%
operations
IS24                67.9           58.1    16.8% 197.0         170.1  15.7%
AS24                30.0           26.2    14.7% 87.4          77.4   12.8%
Corporate           0.5            0.7     nm    1.7           3.0     nm
Reported EBITDA     40.9           1.2     nm    125.7         61.0  106.1%
therein Core        40.9           1.3     nm    125.6         63.5   97.6%
operations
IS24                38.8           27.3    42.4% 112.1         90.0   24.6%
AS24                10.1           3.2     211.8% 31.7         14.4  120.4%
Corporate           (7.9)          (29.2)  nm    (18.2)        (40.8)  nm
Ordinary operating  49.1           36.7    33.7% 144.6         109.6  31.9%
EBITDA
therein Core        48.9           37.1    32.1% 144.1         110.9  30.0%
operations
IS24                41.0           30.8    32.9% 119.2         94.6   26.0%
AS24                11.2           9.8     14.9% 34.9          23.9   46.1%
Corporate           (2.0)          (2.5)   21.1% (6.4)         (5.7)  11.5%
Management fee      (1.3)          (1.1)   (22.9%)(3.6)        (1.9)   nm
reconciliation                             
Ordinary operating  49.5%          42.9%   6.6pp 50.1%         43.3%  6.8pp
EBITDA margin
Core operations     49.7%          43.6%   6.1pp 50.4%         44.2%  6.2pp
IS24                60.4%          53.1%   7.3pp 60.5%         55.6%  5.0pp
AS24                37.5%          37.4%   0.1pp 39.9%         30.8%  9.1pp
Capital expenditure 5.5            3.1     76.6% 13.8          6.5   110.9%
Cash contribution   43.6           33.6    29.7% 130.8         103.1  26.9%


The complete financial report for the first nine months and the third
quarter of 2015 is available at
www.scout24.com/en/Investor-Relations/Financial-Publications/Financ
ial-Reports/financial-reports.aspx.

Outlook

Scout24's business policies are directed towards sustainable and profitable
growth in the future.

The Group expects favourable tailwinds in the macroeconomic backdrop as
well as in the German real estate and the European automotive market.
Scout24 is well positioned to benefit from those tailwinds, given the focus
on its core operations and the European markets, where it benefits from
leading market positions, high brand recognition and significant audience
reach.

Therefore, Management also gives a positive outlook for the full financial
year 2015, expecting total external revenues of around EUR 390m and an
ordinary operating EBITDA margin at a level between 47.5% and 49.0%. IS24
revenue growth is expected to further benefit from the ongoing membership
migration and an uplift in ARPU. For AS24's core markets, revenue growth
will be driven by an increase in both ARPUs and core dealer bases.

Non-operating items will be affected by cost related to the IPO in an
amount of up to EUR 7m, in addition to around EUR 15m of non-operating
items for the full year 2015 deriving from the reorganization and
restructuring started in 2014. Capital expenditure is expected to be at
around EUR 20m for the full year of 2015, mainly driven by investments in
the AS24 platform.

Conference Call

On Wednesday, November 11, 2015, 2:00 p.m. CET, Scout24 will host a
conference call and webcast for financial analysts and investors. You may
dial in using the following numbers:
DE: +4969222229043
UK: +442030092452
USA: +18554027766

Participant PIN code: 82438614#

The webcast, as well as a replay, will be made available at
scout111115-live.audio-webcast.com/cgi-bin/audience.ssp

About Scout24

Scout24 operates leading digital classifieds platforms in Germany and other
selected European countries. The main operations under the umbrella brand
Scout24 are the digital marketplaces ImmobilienScout24 and AutoScout24.
ImmobilienScout24 is the leading digital real estate classifieds platform
in Germany, based on consumer traffic and time spent as well as customer
numbers and listings. AutoScout24 is a leading automotive digital
classifieds platform in Europe, in terms of unique monthly visitors and
listings. Scout24's digital marketplaces are empowering people to realise
their property and car-owning dreams simply, efficiently and stress-free.
Further information is available at www.scout24.com

Investor Relations contact

Britta Schmidt
Vice President Investor Relations & Treasury
Tel.: +49 89 44456 3278 
Email: [email protected]

Press contact 

Marie Fabiunke
Head of Corporate Communications & PR
Tel.: +49 30 243 01 1427
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer:

This document has been issued by Scout24 AG (the "Company" and, together
with its direct and indirect subsidiaries, the "Group")) and does not
constitute or form part of and should not be construed as any offer or
invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase
or subscribe for, any securities of the Company, nor shall any part of it
nor the fact of its distribution form part of or be relied on in connection
with any contract or investment decision, nor does it constitute a
recommendation regarding the securities of the Company or any present or
future member of the Group.

All information contained herein has been carefully prepared. However, no
reliance may be placed for any purposes whatsoever on the information
contained in this document or on its completeness. No representation or
warranty, express or implied, is given by or on behalf of the Company or
any of its directors, officers or employees or any other person as to the
accuracy or completeness of the information or opinions contained in this
document and no liability whatsoever is accepted by the Company or any of
its directors, officers or employees nor any other person for any loss
howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of such information
or opinions or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

The information contained in this press release is subject to amendment,
revision and updating. Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this
document are forward-looking, which reflect the Company's or, as
appropriate, senior management's current expectations and projections about
future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number
of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or
events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions
could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and
events described herein. Statements contained in this document regarding
past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such
trends or activities will continue in the future. The Company does not
undertake any obligation to update or revise any information contained in
this press release (including forward-looking statements), whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date of this document.

This document is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States
of America. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States of
America absent registration or an exemption from registration under the
U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Neither this document nor any copy
of it may be taken or transmitted into the United States of America, its
territories or possessions or distributed, directly or indirectly, in the
United States of America, its territories or possessions or to any US
person.

By attending, reviewing or consulting the presentation to which this
document relates or by accepting this document you will be taken to have
represented, warranted and undertaken that you have read and agree to
comply with the contents of this notice.

Nothing in this document constitutes tax advice. Persons should seek tax
advice from their own consultants or advisors when making investment
decisions.



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2015-11-11 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
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Language:    English                                                     
Company:     Scout24 AG                                                  
             Dingolfinger Str. 1 - 15                                    
             81673 Munich                                                
             Germany                                                     
Phone:       +49 89 44456 - 0                                            
Fax:         +49 89 44456 - 3000                                         
E-mail:      [email protected]                                              
Internet:    www.scout24.com                                             
ISIN:        DE000A12DM80                                                
WKN:         A12DM8                                                      
Listed:      Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated   
             Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover,  
             Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange                       


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