Idealista sees 35% uptick in Spain and expects six more years of success

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

The classified portal has improved its sales by 25%, up to 64 million, in the heat of the real estate boom in Madrid and Barcelona and the recovery of other secondary cities

Idealista, a classified portal controlled by the Apax fund, increased its net profit in Spain by 35% last year, to 30.5 million euros, thanks to the good evolution of sales, which improved by 25%, to exceed 64 million euros.

The company, founded in 2000 by Jesús Encinar, adds six consecutive years with rising profits. Idealista, which reached the breakeven point three years after its launch, has cut sales twice in its almost 20 years of history: in 2009, with the fall of the new work, and in 2013, due to the effect of the crisis .

The bulk of the company's income comes from advertisements by real estate professionals (developers, franchises, real estate networks and financial entities) included on its website. As the company explains in the 2018 accounts presented in the Mercantile Registry, the group has deepened in Spanish geographical coverage "to extend its services to the largest possible number of potential customers".

The company agreed on June 26, 2018 the payment of a dividend of 5.5 million euros. Apax controls 80% of the company's capital, while the rest is distributed among the company's management team.

Italy and Portugal

In consolidated terms, including in addition to the activity of Spain, that of Portugal and Italy and that of other subsidiaries partially or wholly owned by Idealista, revenues amounted to 86.8 million, up 28%. Of the total income, 74% comes from its website.

The other two sources of revenue are the subsidiary in Italy, which entered 15.2 million in 2018, compared to 11.4 million in 2017, and that of Portugal, which doubled its turnover, up to 2.4 million, last year . The Italian division, created in 2006, manages the web www.idealista.it. Meanwhile, the Portuguese website www.idealista.pt has been operating since 2014.

According to data reported by Ivory Spain Midco, acquired by Apax in 2015 for 150 million and which integrates Idealista and its investees, this company lost 3.7 million in 2018, compared to the red numbers of 10.18 million the previous year.

Consolidated accounts continue to be weighed down by goodwill (difference between the sale price and the fair value of the company's assets and liabilities), which must be progressively amortized in the accounts.

Financing

Regarding the financial situation, the group signed a 62 million financing contract in October 2017. Of this figure, the outstanding capital amounts to 54.6 million. Most of this debt, 29 million, expires in 2023. The rest is distributed in proportional payments over the next four years.

Ivory Spain Midco depends, in turn, on Luxembourg's Ivory Topco, an instrumental company that Apax used to acquire Idealista in 2015. For the purchase, Ivory Topco granted its subsidiary a loan of 135 million, from which the principal outstanding amounts to to 53.56 million.

To develop its activity, the group has seven offices in Spain (three in Madrid, two in Barcelona, ​​one in Malaga and one in Zaragoza), two in Italy (in Milan) and another in Portugal (in Lisbon). The group employs about 550 professionals, of which almost 400 correspond to the Idealist staff.

Sole third party partner B after buying 24%

Idealista will execute a purchase option of 24% of Tercero B– a website that collects and homogenizes public information of the real estate sector through databases- for 2.8 million. The company, which already had 76% of the capital, will thus control the entire firm.

The Founders of Tercero B, Daniel Pardo and Daniel del Pozo, will remain in the project. In addition, during the past year, Idealista sold its 17.5% stake in Autodesuenta, a company that manages the Autos.com portal. Idealista has obtained a profit of 1,057 million with the sale. This portal, which began in 2004, sees participation from Íñigo María de Arrola and Ignacio Arrola Albarracín.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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