Scout24 AG reports successful first quarter 2017 with solid top- and bottom-line growth

Scout24 AG reports successful first quarter 2017 with solid top- and bottom-line growth

• 7.7% increase in Group revenues to EUR 113.9 million
• Ordinary operating EBITDA margin of 49.6%
• Cash contribution increased by 10.8%
• On track to achieve full year 2017 targets

Berlin / Munich, 10 May 2017 - Scout24 AG ("Scout24" or "the Group"), the leading operator of digital marketplaces specialising in the real estate and automotive sectors in Germany and other selected European countries, reports solid growth in revenues and profitability in the first quarter of the financial year 2017.

According to the unaudited consolidated financial statements, Group revenues for the first quarter 2017 increased by 7.7% to EUR 113.9 million (Q1 2016: EUR 105.8 million). Group ordinary operating EBITDA was up 8.2% to EUR 56.5 million, representing a margin of 49.6%. Furthermore, cash contribution increased by 10.8%, once again demonstrating the Group's strong cash generating capabilities.

"Given the continued robust top-line and profitability growth in the first quarter of the financial year, Scout24 is on track to achieve its 2017 targets. Our financial position has further improved also on the back of considerable interest savings deriving from the re-financing concluded end of 2016. This positive development also supports our planned dividend payment in June 2017", said Christian Gisy, Chief Financial Officer of Scout24 AG.

Overview of Financial Results

The table below provides a summary overview of the Group's performance for the first quarter ended 31 March 2017.

Key Financial Highlights

The quarterly statement including financial statements and additional details on segment level is available at www.scout24.com/financial-reports.

Business Development

Group

Scout24 continued to perform strongly in the quarter, mainly driven by strong core dealer ARPU increase in the AutoScout24 ("AS24") segment as well as a consistent expansion of consumer monetisation initiatives under the Scout24 Media umbrella in the ImmobilienScout24 ("IS24") Segment.
Ordinary operating EBITDA in the first quarter 2017 was up by 8.2% year-on-year to EUR 56.5 million. Ordinary operating EBITDA margin increased by 0.3 percentage points to 49.6%.

Reported Group EBITDA for the first quarter 2017 was up EUR 4.7 million compared to the first quarter 2016, reaching EUR 53.3 million. This includes EUR 3.2 million of non-operating costs (Q1 2016: EUR 3.5 million), which essentially consist of costs related to M&A transactions and personnel expenses. Personnel expenses mainly relate to the reorganisation, but also include share-based compensation for management equity programs as well as performance-based remuneration from share purchase agreements. Consolidated net income attributable to parent company owners amounted to EUR 24.2 million in the reporting period (Q1 2016: EUR 13.1 million), which corresponds to basic earnings per share of EUR 0.23 (Q1 2016: EUR 0.12).

The cash contribution in the first quarter of 2017 increased by EUR 5.1 million (10.8%) year-on-year. The cash conversion rate, based on ordinary operating EBITDA, increased to 93% (Q1 2016: 91%). Cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR 73.9 million as of 31 March 2017 (31 December 2016: EUR 43.4 million). Net financial debt (current and non-current liabilities less cash and cash equivalents) amounted to EUR 603.6 million, compared with EUR 633.9 million as of 31 December 2016. The ratio of net debt to ordinary operating EBITDA over the last 12 months was reduced to 2.64:1 (31 December 2016: 2.82:1).

ImmobilienScout24 (IS24)

Revenues from core agents were stable year-on-year at EUR 39.2 million supported by a solid ARPU (average revenue per core agent) increase offsetting decreasing core agent numbers. Core agent numbers remained flat throughout the quarter excluding agents going out of business. The number of core agents decreased slightly by 370 agents compared with December 2016 (17,411 agents) to 17,041 agents at end of March 2017 mainly as a result of agents going out of business because of market conditions. Revenues from other agents remained mainly flat year over year. Other revenues increased by 13.5% to EUR 24.4 million in the first quarter of 2017 (Q1 2016: EUR 21.5 million), mainly due to consumer monetisation initiatives driven by the cross-Group function Scout24 Media.

Due to its superior content, IS24 maintained its strong competitive lead in listings share as well as consumer traffic and engagement in the first quarter of 2017.

AutoScout24 (AS24)

External revenues for AS24 continued to grow strongly with a year-on-year increase of 15.4%. Revenues from core dealers increased significantly on a year-to-year basis in both Germany (20.5% to EUR 15.9 million) and Benelux/Italy (21.8% to EUR 13.4 million). This growth was mainly driven by a solid ARPU increase in all geographies on the back of the ongoing success of the visibility products. Revenues from other dealers also saw an increase of 6.3% year-on-year. Other revenues remained stable on the previous year's level.

AS24 sustained its content leadership positions in Belgium, Netherlands and Italy with regards to general classifieds and automotive classified competitors and continued to work on closing the gap on traffic towards its competitor in Germany.

Outlook

The business development of Scout24 Group in the first quarter 2017 was in line with the Management Board's expectations and Scout24 is therefore highly confident to reach the targets for the financial year 2017 communicated on 29 March 2017. For details, please refer to our Annual Report for financial year 2016, which is available at which is available at report.scout24.com/2016.

Conference Call

On Wednesday, 10 May 2017, 2:00 p.m. CEST, 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:
http://scout100517-live.audio-webcast.com/

Next events and reportings

On 8 June 2017, the Annual General Meeting of Scout24 AG will take place in Berlin.

Scout24 expects to report results for the first half of the 2017 financial year on Wednesday,
9 August 2017.

About Scout24

With our leading digital marketplaces ImmobilienScout24 and AutoScout24 in Germany and across Europe we are inspiring people to make their best decisions on finding a home and a car. More than 1,000 employees are working on the success of our products and services, putting the consumers' needs first in order to create a connected network for living and mobility. Scout24 is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE000A12DM80, G24). For further information, please visit www.scout24.com, our Corporate Blog and Tech Blog, or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Investor Relations

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

Media Relations

Marie Fabiunke
Head of Corporate Communications & PR
Fon: +49 30 24301 1427
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer:

All information contained in this document 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 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.

Scout24 also uses alternative performance measures, not defined by IFRS, to describe the Scout24 Group's results of operations. These should not be viewed in isolation, but treated as supplementary information. The special items used to calculate some alternative performance measures arise from the integration of acquired businesses, restructuring measures, impairments, gains or losses resulting from divestitures and sales of shareholdings, and other material expenses and income that generally do not arise in conjunction with Scout24's ordinary business activities. Alternative performance measures used by Scout24 are defined in the "Glossary" section of Scout24's Annual Report 2016 which is available at www.scout24.com/financial-reports.

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this statement may not add up precisely to the totals indicated, and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures for the same reason. Information on quarterly financials have not been subject to the audit and thus are labelled "unaudited".