Zameen Continues to Drag Frontier Digital Ventures Revenue Down in Q3

The ASX-listed online marketplace operator Frontier Digital Ventures (FDV) has released a financial update for the third quarter of the year. Notable points from the company's release included:

• The third consecutive quarter of positive net operating cash flow of (A$0.9 million).
• Total revenue of A$20.9 million, down 2% year-on-year.
• Total operating EBITDA of A$2.2 million, stable year-on-year.

FDV owns and operates 12 online classifieds marketplaces across three regions worldwide and holds a 30% stake in the leading Pakistani property portal, Zameen and a 37% stake in Pakistani autos vertical PakWheels.

In Latin America, all brands achieved double-digit revenue growth with InfoCasas and Fincaraíz growing 27% and 38% respectively year-on-year. Latin American EBITDA stood at A$1.2 million, up 38% on the comparison period.

FDV's Latin American subsidiary, known as 360 Latam, has recently launched a tool for agents to get connected with new build stock. The Iris platform is effectively an MLS for developers to sell their stock with 360 Latam taking a commission for connecting an agent with stock. There are high hopes for the platform which generated A$111k of revenue and facilitated around 60 transactions in the quarter.

For MENA Marketplaces Group, FDV's African division, quarterly revenue stood at A$2.4 million representing a 19% increase despite the significant earthquake in Morocco that impacted performance in September. The segment generated record EBITDA of A$0.7 million as three of the four regional brands were profitable in Q3.

The segment's black sheep was Nigeria-based PropertyPro which saw revenue fall 52% compared to the comparison period and was the only unprofitable FDV brand in the quarter.

In Asia, all consolidated brands improved revenue on a quarterly year-on-year basis with the segment's overall revenue increasing 45% on the comparison period. The segment continues to see growth in its transactional revenues with AutoDeal, Hoppler and iMyanmarHouse all seeing transactional revenues increase significantly during the period.

Despite the good performance of its incorporated companies, FDV's overall revenue figure dropped by 2%. The culprit continues to be the turbulent economic and political situation in Pakistan which has been hampering the performance of the Zameen property portal.

In Q3 of 2022, Zameen was easily the largest contributor to FDV's revenue. This year however Zameen's revenues dropped 61% in Q3 to A$2.6 million and its EBITDA margin fell from 22% to 1%. There may be some light at the end of the tunnel though as revenue and transaction volumes were up slightly relative to the prior quarter.