Today, Schibsted Media Group released its Q1 2017 report. EBITDA ex. Investment phase increased 5 percent to NOK 669 million.
“Both operating revenues and gross operating profits continued to grow well in Schibsted in Q1 2017. The improvement came in both online classifieds and media houses,” CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal says.
“Within online classifieds we are particularly pleased with the strong progress in the verticals. We are strengthening our positions among professional customers, which contributed to an online classifieds revenue growth of 17 percent, adjusted for currency fluctuations,” Rolv Erik Ryssdal says.
“Our largest online classifieds company, Leboncoin in France, continued to perform well, driven by good development in the verticals. We experienced strong growth drive by both product innovation and good general markets in Norway, and there were signs of improvement in parts of the Spanish business. In Sweden, revenues were unchanged since last year,” Rolv Erik Ryssdal says.
“We see a steady decrease in investments in the emerging markets, and it gives us great pleasure to announce that we have agreed with Telenor to swap assets within our common joint ventures in emerging markets. For Schibsted it makes strong strategic and financial sense to increase our stakes in Brazil and Chile, whereas we exit several Asian markets. We are very happy with the development in Brazil, and we are excited about the further prospects for strong growth,” Ryssdal says.
“In Q1 we increased our investments in the native mobile market place Shpock. Shpock has an excellent mobile product, and is run by a very competent organization. The service is regularly breaking records in large markets like UK and Germany.”
“The first months of 2017 have been positive for our publishing activities. Good cost control combined with digital growth and some slowdown in the print advertising decline has led to improved operating margins. The development has been particularly strong in VG in Norway. It is also very rewarding to see that our newspapers continue to produce high quality independent journalism to the benefit of our societies,” CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal says.
“Schibsted Growth in Sweden continues its strong development. I would particularly like to highlight Lendo, which grew revenues by 35 percent with a gross operating margin of 45 percent,” Ryssdal says.
Highlights of Q1 2017
(Figures in brackets refer to corresponding quarter in 2015. Online classifieds pro forma numbers include proportional consolidation of joint ventures and associates)
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EBITDA ex. Investment phase of NOK 669 million, a growth of 5 percent
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Online classifieds pro forma revenue growth of 17 percent, adjusted for currency fluctuations. Total Online classifieds EBITDA ex. Investment phase grew 3 percent to NOK 661 million
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Continued progress in Developed phase of Online Classifieds
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20 percent revenue growth in France, driven by consistent high growth in car and real estate verticals, initiated monetization of jobs and the acquisition of MB Diffusion
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20 percent growth in Norway driven by verticals and personal finance
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20 percent revenue growth in Spain. Strengthened trend in jobs and cars, whereas real estate is sluggish, and display advertising continues to grow slowly. Acquisition of Habitaclia contributes positively
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Unchanged revenues in Sweden affected positively by cars and jobs, whereas display advertising and Services contributed negatively
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Positive trend in Investment phase. Increased exposure to Brazil and streamlining portfolio
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Schibsted to increase stake in OLX Brazil from 25 to 50 percent by acquiring Telenor’s stakes. Exiting Malaysia, Vietnam and Myanmar by selling to Telenor
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OLX Brazil progressing well with revenue growth of close to 160 percent Y/Y and reduced expenses. Clear aim to reach break-even during 2017
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Significant investments and rapid growth in UK and Germany for native app Shpock, reaching a total of 41 million app downloads and 12 million monthly active users
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Tight cost control and digital product innovation leads to improved EBITDA margins improvement from 4 to 8 percent in publishing activities, even if advertising markets are challenging
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Strong quarter for VG with increased revenues and margin expansion
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Continued high growth rate in the Schibsted Growth portfolio in Sweden. Personal finance portal Lendo.se grew revenues 35 percent to SEK 101 million, with healthy margin development
| Schibsted Media Group | First quarter | Year | |
| (MNOK) | 2017 | 2016 | 2016 |
| Operating revenues | 4,000 | 3,883 | 15,854 |
| Gross operating profit (EBITDA) | 434 | 421 | 2,131 |
| EBITDA margin | 11 % | 11 % | 13 % |
| Gross operating profit (EBITDA) ex. Investment phase | 669 | 635 | 2,904 |
| EBITDA margin ex. Investment phase | 17 % | 17 % | 19 % |
Schibsted invites to an analyst and press conference at Apotekergata 10, Oslo, 12 May 2017 at 09:00 CET. The presentation will be held in English and transmitted live as a video webcast on www.schibsted.com/ir. CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal and EVP CFO Trond Berger will present at the analyst and press conference.
A conference call with Q&A linked to the Q1 2017 numbers will take place 12 May 2017 at 14:00 CET. Participants will be CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal, EVP Emerging Markets Gianpaolo Santorsola and EVP CFO Trond Berger. Please dial in at the following numbers:
Norway: 800 51084
UK: 0800 279 7204
USA: 888-394-8218
International: +44 (0)330 336 9411
Conference ID is 3377882.
Contact persons:
Trond Berger, CFO. Tel: +47 916 86 695
Jo Christian Steigedal, Head of IR. Tel: +47 415 08 733
Oslo, 12 May 2017
SCHIBSTED ASA
Jo Christian Steigedal
Head of IR