Scout24 SE / DE000A12DM80
06.05.2025 - 07:30:03Scout24 with strong start into 2025: Accelerating revenue growth and continued margin expansion drive strong EPS
Scout24 SE / Key word(s): Quarter Results/Quarterly / Interim Statement 06.05.2025 / 07:30 CET/CEST The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Q1 2025 with 15.8% revenue growth, driven by continued strength in professional and private subscriptions as well as transaction enablement Record number of customers across both segments: B2B customer base up 5.9%, B2C segment growing by 19.8% Ordinary operating EBITDA growth accelerated to 17.9%, resulting in margin expansion of one percentage point, despite absorbing acquisitions Strong EPS growth, driven by lower non-operating costs Guidance for financial year 2025 reiterated Munich/Berlin, 6 May 2025 Scout24 Group continued its profitable growth trajectory further in the first quarter of 2025, increasing revenues by 15.8% to EUR 157.6 million. Organic growth reached 12.1%, exceeding the already strong momentum of Q4 2024. Revenue growth was primarily driven by continued strong demand for subscription products in both segments as well as healthy growth in the transaction enablement business, which benefited from a sustained, albeit slow, market recovery and the integration of recent acquisitions. Ordinary operating EBITDA grew at 17.9%, supported by the strong revenue growth combined with continued scaling effects and operating leverage resulting from the successful implementation of Scout24’s interconnectivity strategy. As a result, the corresponding EBITDA margin expanded by one percentage point to 59.5%. The continued improvement in profitability is already taking the recent acquisitions into account, which come with lower profitability. “We are off to a good start in 2025, with accelerating organic revenue growth and recent acquisitions performing well. Our interconnected ecosystem continues to grow across the board: We are gaining more customers in both segments, growing traffic and the number of registered property owners is also increasing. Demand for our innovative products is therefore high. We recently implemented an Anthropic AI across our organisation to emphasise our AI-first approach. We are well on track to deliver our 2024 CMD targets, which will transform Scout24 beyond classifieds. While there is clearly macro uncertainty in the world right now and mortgage rates in Germany have increased, we feel confident that 2025 will be another strong year for Scout24,” comments Ralf Weitz, CEO of Scout24. Record customer numbers and strong subscription revenues continue to drive growth in the Professional and Private segment In the Professional segment, which saw a year-on-year revenue growth of 16.2%, subscription revenues increased by 15.0% (12.0% organic) to EUR 82.8 million, driven by strong customer growth and product demand. The average number of customers for the quarter rose by 5.9% to 25,601. ARPU in the Professional segment was up 8.6%. Growth with residential real estate agents remained dynamic, but was partially offset by ongoing difficulties faced by commercial real estate agents. Transaction enablement revenues rose by 25.4% to EUR 27.2 million with an organic contribution of 12.2%, a slight acceleration from Q4 2024, due to the slow but gradual recovery of the real estate market and strong performance in valuation services, CRM and ESG business. Total revenue in the Private segment increased by 14.9%. Subscription revenues continued on the dynamic growth path of the previous quarters and increased by 26.3% to EUR 25.8 million, driven by continued strong demand for the Plus products. Subscriber growth maintained robust momentum at 19.8% year-on-year with 495,150 customers, representing a slight deceleration from the previous quarter. This development was offset by stronger ARPU growth of 5.4%. Listing volume in the pay-per-ad business showed a stable development compared to the prior-year period and remained at a high level in the first quarter of 2025. Other revenue, which is generated from the sale of credit checks, was also on a comparable level on a year-on-year basis. Operating leverage and margin expansion continues while absorbing acquisitions with lower margin profile Operating expenses in the first quarter of 2025 increased by 11.4% including the recent acquisitions. This disproportionately low increase in expenses compared to revenue resulted from improved operational efficiency and scale effects achieved through consistent implementation of the interconnectivity strategy. Main increases in operating effects came from personnel expenses (+11.6%), selling costs (+26.5%) related to the recent acquisitions and the upturn in the Sprengnetter business as well as IT expenses (+16.6%) due to higher AWS costs, AI integration as well as contribution from recent acquisitions. As a result of the strong revenue growth and lower growth in operating effects, ordinary operating EBITDA increased by 17.9% to EUR 93.7 million, with the corresponding ordinary operating EBITDA margin improving by one percentage point to 59.5%. Non-operating effects decreased significantly in the first quarter by 35.1% to EUR 7.8 million. In particular, this was attributable to significantly lower expenses for share-based compensation as well as reduced reorganisation measures, partly offset by higher M&A expenses driven by recent acquisitions. Reported EBITDA increased strongly by 27.4% to EUR 85.9 million, driven by the reduction in non-operating effects. The financial result declined by 86.0% compared to the previous year, primarily due to adverse foreign currency effects resulting from the strengthening of the Euro. Net income showed a substantial increase of 26.7%. Earnings per share (EPS) for Q1 amounted to EUR 0.69, increasing strongly by 28.6% year-on-year. The increase was driven by the strong revenue performance, lower non-operating effects, slightly offset by the reduced financial result. Adjusted EPS, which normalises for certain non-operating effects, came in at EUR 0.79, growing strongly at 17.9% year-on-year. “With 16% revenue growth, 18% growth in ooEBITDA and adjusted EPS, we are again showing that executing our interconnectivity strategy is highly beneficial for our customers and shareholders. Strong product demand is driving double-digit organic revenue growth, and we continue to increase profitability due to our interconnectivity efforts, despite absorbing lower margin acquisitions. Our flywheel with attractive capital allocation for shareholders continues: strategic acquisitions, 10% proposed dividend increase and continued share buy-backs. Although increased mortgage rates have clouded the outlook for German real estate transactions in the near term, we feel confident to achieve our guidance,” says Dirk Schmelzer, CFO of Scout24.
06.05.2025 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.eqs-news.com |
Language: | English |
Company: | Scout24 SE |
Invalidenstraße 65 | |
10557 Berlin | |
Germany | |
E-mail: | ir@scout24.com |
Internet: | www.scout24.com |
ISIN: | DE000A12DM80 |
WKN: | A12DM8 |
Indices: | MDAX |
Listed: | Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange |
EQS News ID: | 2130440 |
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