Scout24 continues strong growth at 14.7 percent
- Group revenue increases to EUR 217.6 million in the first half of 2022
Core agent business benefits
EBITDA rises by 9.5% to EUR 121 million
Management Board raises guidance for the financial year 2022
Munich / Berlin, August 9, 2022
Scout24 SE, operator of the digital marketplace ImmoScout24, has continued the strong revenue growth of the first quarter also in Q2 2022. This resulted in Group revenue of EUR 217.6 million for the first half of 2022, up 14.7% from EUR 189.7 million the previous year. The performance underlines Scout24’s highly relevant product portfolio, especially in the current market environment. Inflation and interest rates have led to a structural shift in the property market – from buy to rent, from seller's market to buyer's market – which has increased the need for respective marketing solutions and services with a positive impact on product demand.
"Rising interest rates, higher construction costs and the uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic environment are influencing the German real estate market. Against this backdrop, the marketing strength of our ImmoScout24 platform is gaining in relevance. Our strong growth in the first half of the year confirms the strategic direction of the Scout24 Group, which is focused on digitising the real estate market by offering a diversified product portfolio," comments Tobias Hartmann, CEO of Scout24 SE.
Revenue Mix: Growth across the board led by core agent business and Plus products
The product portfolio of the Scout24 Group is divided into the Professional, Private and Media & Other segments.
Professional segment revenues grew by 10.7% year-on-year to EUR 142.8 million. Particularly noteworthy here are the dynamics of the core business with professional customers, which achieved revenue growth of 6.7%, and the dynamic sales leads business (brokerage of mandates), which achieved revenue growth of 31.6%.
"Our figures clearly show how there is an increased need for relevant reach and audience from real estate brokers in the current market environment. Scout24 has always helped to digitize processes, increase visibility, and source new mandates. We will continue to support our customers as a strategic partner with our products and expertise," Tobias Hartmann adds.
Private segment sales increased by 27.7% year-on-year to EUR 57.7 million. Here, the strongest growth driver continues to be the high demand for Plus products, with sales up 66.9%. The number of customers increased by 69.5% to almost 300,000. In the Private segment, business with individual listings also showed growing momentum, with sales up 10.4% in the first half of the year.
Media & Other revenues increased by 10.3% to EUR 17.0 million in H1 2022 with strong business in Austria.
EBITDA rises by 9.5%
Scout24 spent around EUR 10.3 million in the growth areas sellers leads and Vermietet.de. These investments focus primarily on higher online marketing expenses for the generation of seller leads as well as higher marketing and personnel expenses for the rapid expansion of the offering for private landlords.
Due to the high efficiency of the investments and the structural cost optimizations, EBITDA from ordinary activities improved by 9.5% to EUR 120.7 million in H1 2022. At 55.5%, the EBITDA margin from ordinary activities in the half-year was only 2.6 percentage points below the prior-year margin. Unadjusted Group EBITDA even increased by 11.6% in H1 2022 compared with H1 2021. Due to the continued share buybacks, earnings per share even rose by 18.0% year-on-year in the first half.
“The current developments in the German real estate market are having a positive overall effect on our product demand. At the same time, the ongoing diversification of revenue streams and our targeted investments are increasingly paying off. Therefore, we decided to raise our guidance for the financial year 2022. This underlines the high resilience of our “next level” business model,” adds Dirk Schmelzer, CFO of Scout24 SE.
KEY FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
| EUR millions | Q2 2022 | Q2 2021 | Change | H1 2022 | H1 2021 | Change |
Group revenue | 109,7 | 95,9 | +14,4 % | 217,6 | 189,7 | +14,7 % |
of which Professional | 71,5 | 65,2 | +9,6 % | 142,8 | 129,1 | +10,7 % |
of which Private | 29,6 | 23,0 | +28,4 % | 57,7 | 45,2 | +27,7 % |
of which Media & Other | 8,7 | 7,7 | +13,2 % | 17,0 | 15,4 | +10,3 % |
Group ordinary operating EBITDA 1 | 62,0 | 55,2 | +12,5 % | 120,7 | 110,2 | +9,5 % |
of which Professional | 43,6 | 42,1 | +3,6 % | 86,4 | 83,9 | +3,1 % |
of which Private | 15,4 | 10,1 | +52,4 % | 28,8 | 20,7 | +39,0 % |
of which Media & Other | 3,0 | 3,0 | +3,1 % | 5,5 | 5,7 | -2,8 % |
Group ordinary operating EBITDA margin2 in % | 56,6 % | 57,5 % | -0.9 pp | 55,5 % | 58,1 % | -2.6 pp |
of which Professional | 61,0 % | 64,5 % | -3.5 pp | 60,5 % | 65,0 % | -4.5 pp |
of which Private | 52,2 % | 43,9 % | +8.2 pp | 49,8 % | 45,8 % | 4.0 pp |
of which Media & Other | 35,2 % | 38,6 % | -3.4 pp | 32,4 % | 36,8 % | -4.4 pp |
| Group EBITDA 3 | 59,5 | 49,0 | 21,4 % | 113,1 | 101,3 | 11,6 % |
| Result after tax | 26,8 | 22,1 | +21,3 % | 46,9 | 46,4 | +1,1 % |
| Earnings per share, in EUR (basic) | 0,34 | 0,25 | +36,0 % | 0,59 | 0,50 | +18,0 % |
- Ordinary operating EBITDA is EBITDA adjusted for non-operating effects, mainly expenses for share-based compensation, M&A activities (realised and unrealised), reorganisation and other non-operating effects.
- The ordinaryoperating EBITDA margin is defined as ordinary operating EBITDA as percentage of revenue.
- Group EBITDA (unadjusted) is defined as earnings before financial result, income taxes, depreciation and amortisation and any impairment losses and reversals of impairment losses.
Management Board raises guidance for the financial year 2022
In an ad hoc announcement dated August 4, 2022, the Management Board of Scout24 SE raised the guidance for year-on-year Group revenue growth for the financial year 2022 from formerly 11% to 12% to a range of 13% to 15%. In addition, the Management Board increased guidance for Group ordinary operating EBITDA growth for the financial year 2022 from formerly 6% to 8% to a range of 10% to 12%.
More Information:
For a detailed explanation of the business performance and results of operations, please refer to the H1 2022 Half-Year Report at https://www.scout24.com/en/investor-relations/financial-reports-presentations.
The H1 2022 results conference call will be held via webcast on August 9, 2022 at 15:00 CEST. Please contact the contact:s below for an impromptu participation. Alternatively, the replay of the conference can be accessed at: www.webcast-eqs.com/scout2420220809
The next quarterly results for Q3 2022 will be announced on November 3, 2022.
About Scout24
Scout24 is one of the leading digital companies in Germany. With the digital marketplace ImmoScout24, for residential and commercial real estate, we successfully bring together homeowners, real estate agents, tenants, and buyers - and we have been doing so for more than 20 years. With more than 20 million users per month on the website or in the app, ImmoScout24 is the market leader for digital real estate listing and search. To digitise the process of real estate transactions, ImmoScout24 is continually developing new products and building up an ecosystem for renting, buying, and commercial real estate in Germany and Austria. Scout24 is a listed stock corporation (ISIN: DE000A12DM80, Ticker: G24) and member of the MDAX and the DAX50 ESG. Further information is available on Twitter and LinkedIn. Since 2012, ImmoScout24 has also been active in the Austrian real estate market.
Investor Relations
Ursula Querette
Director Group Strategy & Investor Relations
Tel.: +49 89 262 02 4939
Email: [email protected]
Scout24https://www.scout24.com/en/
https://www.scout24.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Scout24_Logo_Stacked_Solid_w3000px_RGB_1.png
https://www.scout24.com/en/news-media/news/detail/scout24-continues-strong-growth-at-147-percent
https://www.scout24.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Scout24_Logo_Stacked_Solid_w3000px_RGB_1.png
2022-08-09T06:00:00+02:00
2022-08-09T06:00:00+02:00
Scout24https://www.scout24.com/en/
https://www.scout24.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Scout24_Logo_Stacked_Solid_w3000px_RGB_1.png
