Swiss Classifieds Operator TX Markets Sees Profit Margins Increase in Yearly Filing

The Swiss media company TX Group has released its results for the 2021 financial year which show that its classifieds operating segment, TX Markets saw revenues slightly up on those of 2020 at $225 million.

Though the company's missive cautioned against comparisons with the previous period, the segment's bottom line increased for the financial year as well as Adjusted EBITDA increased from $75m (margin of 37%) in 2020 to $95m in 2021 (margin of 42.9%).

TX Group is a Swiss media business that operates many local media titles as well as classifieds portals across the jobs, cars and real estate verticals via its TX Marketplaces segment. On a company level, the Group saw organic revenue growth of 6% at $1.03 billion for the year.

The company entered into a historic joint venture agreement with longtime classifieds rival Scout24 in November. Under the agreement, the country's two largest online marketplace operators will come together with insurance provider sie Mobiliar and the investment firm General Atlantic to form the Swiss MarketpIace Group (SMG).

SMG will control the Homegate and Scout24 CH portals as well as the generalist platforms Tutti and Ricardo and a number of portals in the cars and jobs sector.

Speaking about the new joint venture, TX Group's Chairman, Dr. Pietro Supino said:

"The partnership is the achievement of a long process and a major step for all parties involved. It offers a promising perspective for Switzerland as a business location in an increasingly competitive international market. The merger seeks to stimulate the growth of the digital marketplaces by increasing the relevance of its services for users as a key driver for its success. This will enable greater efficiency to be offered to business customers. Collectively, greater investment in product development is made possible, which in turn increases the company’s attractiveness as an employer."

"The merger will result in a high book profit and a strong increase in total assets and cash and cash equivalents. As previously announced, the Board of Directors will propose a special dividend of 4.20 Swiss francs per share from this in 2022, 2023 and 2024", he continued.