Schibsted Q4 2019 reporting

Comments from the CEO

Q4 2019 was a satisfactory quarter for Schibsted. Nordic Marketplaces had a revenue growth of 6 percent and EBITDA increased despite investments in Sweden. Revenue growth for this segment was slower than in previous quarters as Finn in Norway has seen slightly lower volumes for real estate and lower volumes for jobs compared to last year which have continued in the start of 2020.

In News Media, digital subscription revenues continued to grow well and our Norwegian operations continued to show stable margins. However, overall EBITDA for News Media was significantly lower compared to Q4 last year driven by a significant drop in advertising revenues, particularly in Sweden. As in previous quarters, this is primarily caused by the strong market contraction following the regulatory tightening of the gaming industry, mainly affecting Aftonbladet. News Media has started implementing initiatives to address the negative margin development by reinforcing our product offerings to strengthen the value proposition to our customers, and by initiatives to reduce costs and improve efficiencies throughout the whole value chain.

Financial Services delivered revenue growth of 4 percent (3 percent currency adjusted) compared to last year driven by continued double-digit growth for Lendo Sweden, while Lendo Norway and Finland declined compared to last year. Looking at the geographical expansion of Lendo, Denmark continued its positive development and on the back of this, we are planning a soft launch in Spain during 2020. As we have mentioned during Q3, Lendo will implement a new organization structure which is expected to be effective from Q1 2020. This is done to reduce complexity and costs and to strengthen the execution of Lendo’s ambitious international growth agenda.

Our Growth portfolio showed strong revenue growth driven by our new Distribution business and EBITDA came in significantly higher than last year. We are also happy to see that Prisjakt showed solid financial performance this quarter driven by high volumes during Black Week.

In order to create further growth and create new digital winners, which is at the core of Schibsted’s strategy, we are further building capabilities within data and tech. We believe that this will help us to leverage our strong reach, market insights and vast access to data across our strong brands. At the same time, these initiatives have a negative financial impact on the HQ/Other operating segment, which had a larger EBITDA loss in Q4 compared to the same quarter in 2018 and Q3 2019.

Adevinta completed the year with another good quarter and reported a revenue growth of 16 percent and a stable EBITDA margin of 26 percent measured in EUR compared to Q4 last year, driven by the performance in France, Spain and Brazil.

As we have already presented last quarter, Schibsted is presently in a strong financial position. We still see interesting opportunities to deploy capital into M&A and other growth opportunities. Our previously communicated share buyback program will be continued as we have not reached our 2% target yet. In accordance with our dividend policy, the Board has proposed an ordinary dividend of NOK 2.00 per share for 2019.

Highlights of Q4 2019

• Group revenues increased by 8% in Q4 2019
  • Q4 revenues for Schibsted ex Adevinta increased 1%
  • Q4 EBITDA for Schibsted ex Adevinta came in 3% lower (-21% excluding IFRS 16) than last year at NOK 460m
• Nordic Marketplaces: Solid revenue growth at a somewhat lower pace, increased EBITDA despite investments in Sweden. Revenues in Norway +6 percent despite somewhat lower volumes in jobs, Sweden +8 percent.
• News Media: Continuous good growth in digital subscription revenues, reduced advertising revenues, in particular in Sweden, leading to a decline of 35% (excluding IFRS 16) in EBITDA year-over-year.
• Financial Services: Continued growth in Lendo Sweden, Norway with stable development compared to last quarter but down YoY.
• Growth: Solid revenue and EBITDA growth driven by Distribution and Prisjakt.
• Adevinta: Revenues increased by 16 percent, stable EBITDA margin of 26 percent compared to Q4 last year (based on Adevinta’s stand-alone reporting in EUR).
• Proposed dividend of NOK 2.00 per share for 2019

Program for the day, 13 February 2020:

07:00 CET: Quarterly report, presentation material, financial and analytical information.
09:00 CET: English language press- and analyst conference at Schibsted’s headquarters at Akersgata 55, Oslo. Live webcast will be published at schibsted.com/ir/. A replay will be available shortly after.
14:00 CET: Conference call with Q&A.

Details:

Quarterly earnings release
Time: 13 February 2020 at 07:00 CET
Quarterly report, presentation materials, and spreadsheet with key figures and analytical information will be made available on the investor relations pages at schibsted.com/ir/.

 Results presentation
Time: 13 February 2020 at 09:00 CET
Location: Schibsted’s premises in Akersgata 55, Oslo, Norway
The presentation will be webcasted live at schibsted.com/ir/. It will be presented in English. Participants can send in written questions through the webcast player.
You may also watch the presentation on YouTube: YouTube link for Schibsted Q4 2019 presentation

CEO Kristin Skogen Lund and EVP CFO Ragnar Kårhus will present.

A recording of the presentation will be available on our website shortly after the live webcast has ended.

Conference call for investors and analysts – Q&A session
Time: 13 February 2020 at 14:00 CET
Questions relating to the results will be answered in a conference call. The session will be held in English.

NOTE: To avoid waiting time when connecting to the call, please use the link below 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/39bzfRi

For manual dial-in, use the following number (note that this connection might take more time):

Norway: +47 2350 0187
Sweden: +46 (0)8 5033 6546
UK: +44 (0)330 336 9401
US: +1 323-794-2095

Passcode: 86 13 43

A recording of the conference call will be made available at schibsted.com/ir/.