Finnish Market Leader Steady in Q2 as Listings Volumes Pick Up by 11%

The Finnish online classifieds operator Alma Media has announced its results for Q2 of the 2023 financial year. Relevant highlights from the company's performance during the period included:

• Overall company revenue was steady at €78.2 million (€79.3, Q2 2022).
• Company operating profit was also steady at €19.4 million (€19.2, Q2 2022).
• Revenue from housing marketplaces was around €4.7 million.

Alma Media is the operator of the leading Finnish real estate marketplace Etuovi as well as the country's top rentals portal Vuokraovi. It also operates several leading online classifieds assets across its home market (autos marketplaces Nettiauto, Autotalli.com and Alma Talent and Jobly.fi in recruitment) as well as Eastern Europe (including Prace.cz in the Czech Republic and Profesia.sk in Slovakia).

Revenue from the company's housing marketplaces was steady compared to the comparison period of 2022 at around €4.7 million. The company noted that economic uncertainty was affecting the housing market in Finland but also told investors that listing volumes were increasing in both the sales (10.8%) and rentals (17.8%) categories.

The company noted that profitability in its 'Consumer' segment (which includes its real estate portals) is under pressure due to the decline in advertising sales and increased costs in product development.

Revenue from comparison services and sharing economy services showed strong development during the quarter.

An investor presentation was keen to point out the strides that Alma Media has made in digitizing its business. Where digital businesses contributed only 32% of company revenue in 2014, they now account for 82%.