Today, Schibsted Media Group released its Q1 2019 report. Schibsted delivered
solid digital revenue growth and improved EBITDA margin in the quarter.
"After a successful demerger and separate listing of our international
marketplaces operations in Adevinta, I am happy to report that our operations
continued to develop well in Q1. Schibsted excluding Adevinta continues its
track record of solid digital growth and the revenue from digital products in
Schibsted excluding Adevinta grew with 6 percent. The growth is good in all our
operating segments," CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.
"Nordic Marketplaces is our most prominent growth engine, and in this quarter
the market leading marketplace Finn in Norway continued to produce excellent
results. At the same time, I am equally glad to report that Blocket in Sweden
has returned to growth after several quarters of negative revenue development.
The verticals are the primary growth drivers, and both in Finn and Blocket,
product development and innovation are key ingredients to drive growth," CEO
Kristin Skogen Lund says.
"News Media continued to grow their digital revenue in the first quarter,
especially driven by good take-up in digital news subscriptions. Going forward
we will continue to work on product development and to improve our ability to
grow the average revenue per subscriber. As a foundation lies our relentless
focus on trustworthy and important journalism. The cost control in News Media is
good, and we have been able to deliver on our ambition to keep EBITDA margin
stable," CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.
"This is the first quarter where we report Financial Services separately, as it
has become a sizable business. It is also an area with great potential for
expansion. Lendo has now been launched in three new markets, and the results are
as planned affected by the investments related to this. Our operations in the
Growth segment have significant potential, and in this quarter the development
was particularly good in the price comparison service Prisjakt," CEO Kristin
Skogen Lund says.
"After the successful demerger of Adevinta and subsequent share sale by
Schibsted, we have a strong financial position. Going forward we see interesting
investment opportunities across our digital portfolio. For example, within
marketplaces there may be opportunities for in-market consolidation. At the same
time, we will seek to maintain an optimal capital structure, and over time seek
to be within our communicated range of financial leverage, which is higher than
the current level," CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.
Highlights of Q1 2019
* Digital revenue growth, excluding Adevinta, of 6% in Q1
* Nordic Marketplaces: Revenues continue to grow, increased EBITDA
* Revenues up 11 percent; EBITDA margin up 4%-points to 45 percent
* Marketplaces Norway with solid 18% revenue growth, in part helped by
late Easter in 2019
* Marketplaces Sweden with 2% revenue growth, driven by verticals
* News Media: Growing online revenues driven by digital products
* 2 percent revenue decrease in Q1; 5% digital growth and increased EBITDA
margin
* Financial Services: Softer top-line development due to regulations
* Continued growth for Lendo, but with a lower rate than in previous
quarters. Recent launch in Denmark, Poland and Austria affects margins
negatively in the ramp-up phase
* Schibsted Growth: Continues to expand
* Prisjakt with continued good development in Q1, 10% revenue growth and
margin improvement
* Expansion investments in Lendo and innovation within Distribution affecting
EBITDA with in total around 25 million in Q1
* Adevinta: Successfully listed on Oslo Stock Exchange on 10 April 2019
* Continued revenue growth driven by France and Spain. Margin expansion
driven by reduced investment phase losses.
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Year (NOK million) First quarter
2018 Key figures 2019 2018 ? %
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Schibsted excluding Adevinta
12,511 Operating revenues 3,089 3,037 2 %
7,367 - of which online revenues 1,842 1,739 6 %
1,840 EBITDA 418 336 25 %
15 % EBITDA margin 14 % 11 %
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Consolidated Group Figures
18,059 Operating revenues 4,576 4,357 5 %
3,268 EBITDA 856 610 40 %
18 % EBITDA margin 19 % 14 %
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Schibsted invites to an analyst and press conference at Akersgata 55, Oslo, 15
May 2019 at 09:00 CET. The presentation will be held in English and transmitted
live as a video webcast on https://www.schibsted.com/ir/. CEO Kristin Skogen
Lund and CFO Trond Berger will present at the analyst and press conference.
A conference call with Q&A linked to the Q1 2019 numbers will take place 15 May
2019 at 14:00 CET. The session will be held in English.
NOTE: To avoid waiting time when connecting to the call, please use the below
link 5-10 minutes prior to start time, where you will be asked to type in your
phone number and registration details. The Event Conferencing system will
automatically call you back on the phone number you provide and place you into
the event. Please note that the link will become active 15 minutes prior to the
event: Link to join call: https://bit.ly/304BLVx
For manual dial-in, use the following number (note that this connection might
take more time): +47 2100 2613. Passcode: 652122. For additional phone number,
please visit https://www.schibsted.com/ir/.
Contact persons:
Trond Berger, CFO. Tel: +47 916 86 695
Jo Christian Steigedal, Head of IR. Tel: +47 415 08 733
Oslo, 15 May 2019
SCHIBSTED ASA
Jo Christian Steigedal
Head of IR