Scout24 SE confirms preliminary 2021 full-year earnings figures with 10% revenue growth and full-year guidance 2022

• Proposed dividend continues to be in the upper range of the long-term dividend policy
• Scout24 SE publishes annual report and sustainability report 2021
• Sustainability agenda further expanded

Munich/Berlin, 24 March 2022

In the annual report for the 2021 financial year published today, Scout24 confirms the preliminary financial results published on 1 March 2022. Accordingly, the Scout24 Group increased its revenue by 10.0% year on year to EUR 389.0 million. The Group’s ordinary operating EBITDA improved by 5.0% to EUR 222.8 million.

Financial performance indicators

¹ Ordinary operating EBITDA is defined as EBITDA adjusted for non-operating effects, mainly expenses for share-based compensation, M&A activities (realised and unrealised), reorganisation measures and other non-operating effects.

² Group (unadjusted) EBITDA is defined as earnings before the financial result, income taxes, depreciation, amortisation and any impairment losses or reversals of impairment losses.

³ Based on a volume-weighted average number of shares of 88,059,505 for the 2021 financial year and 102,144,808 for the 2020 financial year.

⁴ Adjusted (1) for non-operating effects, which are also used to determine ordinary operating EBITDA, (2) for PPA amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets, and (3) for financial result effects primarily stemming from the AS24 transaction and from the adjustment of purchase price liabilities. The nominal tax rate is applied to the adjusted earnings; the same number of shares is used as for earnings per share.

For the complete financial results for the year and detailed explanations see the annual report under https://www.scout24.com/en/investor-relations/financial-reports-presentations.

Growth strategy has wide-reaching impact

“In the past year, we have continued our path to become a digital transaction platform. In addition to conventional listings for marketing real estate, Scout24 increasingly offers products that make real estate transactions more digital and efficient – such as buying and selling, renting for both tenants and landlords and managing real estate. This has resulted in a more diversified revenue structure and increased growth potential”, says Tobias Hartmann, CEO of Scout24 SE.

In addition to the annual report, on 24 March 2022 Scout24 SE also published its sustainability report for the 2021 financial year. Under the title “Moving to the next level”, videos, interviews, and articles at http://www.scout24.com/reporting-2021 highlight various aspects of the growth strategy. For example, Scout24 offers insights into how the Company is further developing its transaction-based business model. It also explains how Scout24 is creating greater transparency in the real estate market, what progress has been made in becoming more diverse and inclusive, and how the Company is committed to an environmentally conscious and socially just future.

Proposed dividend continues to be in the upper range of the dividend policy 

In view of the encouraging operational results, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will again propose the maximum possible distribution under the long-term Scout24 dividend policy at this year’s Annual General Meeting. The distribution amount is thus expected to total EUR 67.1 million, corresponding to 50.3% of adjusted net profit for the 2021 financial year. This means that, despite the reduced scope of business from 1 April 2020 onwards following the completion of the AutoScout24 transaction, the total dividend payment for 2021 is only slightly lower than in the previous year.

Based on the 79,920,015 no-par value shares in circulation (excluding treasury shares) at the time of ratification of the 2021 annual financial statements, this result in a dividend of EUR 0.84 per share. Accordingly, it is 2 cents above the previous year’s dividend due to the reduction in the number of shares as a result of share buybacks. The final amount of the dividend per share depends on further share buybacks in the run-up to the Annual General Meeting on 30 June 2022.

Full-year guidance confirmed

Scout24 SE’s Management Board is deeply saddened by the dramatic events in Ukraine. That said, it does not currently see any direct impact on the Group’s business activities and therefore confirms its guidance for the 2022 financial year.

Based on its capacity and resources, the Scout24 Group is contributing to helping refugees from Ukraine. Homeowners, landlords and private individuals can offer free temporary accommodation for refugees via ImmoScout24. ImmoScout24 also provides free advertising space for aid organisations and supports them through corporate donations. For more information, visit www.immobilienscout24.de/lp/hilfe-fuer-die-ukraine.

Sustainability agenda further expanded

In the 2021 financial year, the Scout24 Group further expanded its sustainability agenda. Based on a comprehensive materiality analysis, a cross-divisional sustainability programme was developed. The aim is to make sustainability in the Company transparent, measurable, and manageable by setting binding and ambitious targets. Furthermore, Scout24 has expanded the existing Code of Conduct to include principles of conduct for business partners, suppliers and service providers. Scout24 also became a member of the United Nations Global Compact in 2021 and is thus officially committed to the ten universal principles relating to human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption.

Detailed information is provided in the sustainability report for the 2021 financial year, which is available on the website at www.scout24.com/en/sustainability/sustainability-reports.

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.

Media Relations

Silke Ernst

Teamlead Corporate Communications

Tel.: +4930243010721

E-mail: [email protected]

Investor Relations

Ursula Querette

Head of Investor Relations & Treasury

Tel.: +49 89 262 02 4939      

E-mail: [email protected]

Disclaimer

All information contained in this release has been carefully prepared. However, no liability of any kind is assumed for the information contained herein and/or 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, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, including but not limited to the Company's financial position or profitability, to differ materially, also adversely, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. 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 document (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 press release.

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. Alternative performance measures used by Scout24 are defined in the corresponding place in the financial reports. The special items used to calculate some alternative performance measures arise from the integration of acquired businesses, reorganisation measures, impairment losses, gains or losses on sale resulting from divestitures and the sale of shareholdings, and other expenses and income that generally do not arise in conjunction with Scout24’s ordinary business activities.

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this release may not add up precisely to the totals indicated, and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures for the same reason.