Profits Slip at North Media in 2024 as BoligPortal Transformation Strategy Continues

North Media, the Danish media outfit behind the country's leading rentals portal BoligPortal, has released its yearly figures for 2024. Notable points from the company's report include:

• Company-wide revenues totalled DKKm 1,301 ($190 million), up 42% year-on-year.
• Company-wide EBITDA was DKKm 182 ($26.2 million), down 18%.
• BoligPortal revenue for the year was DKKm 111 ($16.2 million), up slightly from DKKm 107 in 2023.
• BoligPortal profit was down slightly year-on-year at DKKm 36.1 ($5.28 million).

In addition to BoligPortal, North Media owns and operates several diverse businesses in Denmark including last-mile delivery company FK Distribution and smart lock company Bekey. The company sold off its job portal Offir earlier this year to Jobindex A/S.

Commenting on the company's performance over 2024 North Media’s Group CEO Lasse Brodt said:

“In 2024, we were fully focused on executing our business strategies, and this affected our financial performance. Our efforts were primarily centred on integrating SDR, Sweden’s largest private distributor of printed matter and local newspapers,  the continued transformation of BoligPortal, the establishment of MineTilbud as an independent company and the divestment of the commercial activities of Ofir."

"The integration of SDR proved more complex and costly than originally assumed. Coupled with a significantly lower print volume in the annual agreements signed for 2025, this has resulted in a write-down of the value of SDR by DKK 155m. This is obviously unsatisfactory, however, we remain confident that our long-term plan for SDR, including the implementation of automated packing, is the right one.”

North Media's presentation highlighted the rollout of BoligPortal's transformation strategy which will see it provide a "single universe" for both sides of the marketplace and revealed that the portal delivered revenue growth of 4%. The report also noted that BoligPortal saw a record number of lease contracts and inspection reports but that its profits declined as investment into its strategy hit the bottom line.

Unlike in most markets, Danish rental portals monetise consumers who pay to be able to message landlords who only pay if they want extra visibility on the portal.