Adevinta Starts 2021 With Solid Q1

The global online classifieds operator Adevinta has released its figures for Q1 of FY21 with the numbers showing a steady if unspectacular period in which the company saw operating revenue rise 4.4% and EBITDA jump 32.2% year on year.

The EBITDA gain was largely attributed to lower one-off costs, revenue growth in key verticals and a favourable phasing in marketing expenses. Adevinta also saw a 2% rise in revenue from display advertising which until recently had been a heavily impacted revenue stream for many companies since the outset of the pandemic in 2020.

A press release from the company was keen to highlight that of the 8% gain in classifieds revenues for the quarter, 5% is attributable to transactional services with the Schibsted offshoot looking to move its business model down the well-trodden path towards the transaction.

Adevinta owns and operates online marketplace businesses in all of the major verticals across 11 countries and splits its quarterly reporting into geographical segments with its French segment (which includes leading horizontal leboncoin) regularly being the star of the show. This quarter was no different as the French segment saw revenue and EBITDA go up by 14% and 17% respectively year-on-year.

As for the company's Spanish segment which includes Milanuncios, Fotocasa and Habitaclia, the business has not yet managed to regain the numbers seen before the start of the pandemic and saw year-on-year quarterly revenue and EBITDA drop by 5.6% and 5.8% respectively. Adevinta's Brazilian business on the other hand saw revenue and EBITDA surge 38% and 87% respectively on the quarter as the acquisition of Grupo ZAP had a 1-point positive impact on revenue growth.

Adevinta's quarterly report included no mention of the regulatory headaches in the UK which will see the company divest its Schpock and Gumtree marketplace sites, but according to CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal there is progress on the €8.7 billion deal:

“We also made further progress on the regulatory front ahead of our expected acquisition of eBay Classifieds Group, and we continue to target closing the transaction during the second quarter. We remain excited about the long term growth potential of our business, and we are approaching the short term uncertainty with even more confidence after a full year of successful managing through the crisis."

Since spinning off from Norwegian publishing giant Schibsted in 2019, Adevinta has made incremental if unspectacular progress and in Grupo ZAP and eBay Classifieds has made two very important acquisitions while divesting from peripheral assets (it sold Fincaraíz, Avito and Tayara to FDV in October of 2020). Now that the worst of the pandemic's impact on business appears to be passing in many of its core markets, the company will be hoping that by spending time consolidating its new assets it can deliver value for shareholders.