Hemnet Q3 2024: Swedish Market Leader Boasts Typically Strong Results

Leading Swedish real estate portal Hemnet has released its financial statement for the third quarter of 2024, posting typically strong results for a market leader that will welcome a new CEO next year.

Highlights include:

• Net sales increased by 36.8% to SEK 372.1 million ($35.2 million)
• EBITDA increased 33.1% to SEK 207.6m ($19.7 million)
• Operating profit increased 35.6% to SEK 185.7m ($17.6 million)
• ARPL, average revenue per published listing, increased 42.0% to SEK 6,183 ($585)

This will be one of the last financial statements from Hemnet with CEO Cecilia Beck-Friis at the helm. She will leave the company within the next 12 months after seven years at Hemnet.

Beck-Friis commented:

"Hemnet reports strong results for the third quarter, mainly driven by a continued high demand for value-added services with 2 out of 3 property sellers now choosing Hemnet Plus or Premium, paired with high engagement from real estate agents. The number of new property listings grew by 2,8 percent compared with 2023.

"We are pleased with the rollout of the new compensation model, launched on July 1, as more agents are promoting the benefits of our value-added services and recommending them to their customers. Along with continued growing demand, this increased engagement from agents drives top-line growth. Revenue from property sellers grew by 46.5 percent in the quarter, while the ARPL contribution from Hemnet Premium more than doubled compared to last year."

Beck-Friis added:

"It is clear that customers recognise the value of our value-added services when selling their property, and the strong demand for our top-tier packages gives us confidence that there is room to expand our offering for property sellers in the coming year.

"In our B2B segment, we are seeing increased demand for our unique Hemnet products across all customer segments. However, we remain mindful that many of our partners, including property developers, continue to face challenges stemming from market uncertainties, which in turn affects revenue from display advertising.

"During the quarter, we introduced several product and feature enhancements. These include making it easier for property sellers to upgrade their listing, offering the option to renew when upgrading to Premium, and enhancing functionality for upcoming listings to increase supply at this stage of the property journey. We are also pleased to see positive results from our efforts to drive engagement through a more personalised experience. Logged-in users are steadily growing in numbers and we can clearly see that those who log in spend significantly more time on Hemnet and return more frequently compared to non-logged-in users. This is an area we will continue to focus on as we know that an experience tailored to individual preferences is more compelling for our users.

"The Swedish people’s great interest in properties and homes are reflected in Hemnet being one of the country’s largest media platforms by reach. As a result of increased activity in the property market and our work to provide the best user experience, engagement on our platforms continued to increase. During the quarter, Swedes collectively clicked on a Hemnet listing over 304 million times, up from 272 million in 2023. This underscores Hemnet’s relevance in the property market and reaffirms our position as the go-to platform for property seekers and sellers alike."

Hemnet is currently recruiting a new CPO after Francesca Cortesi's resignation. Meanwhile, the firm also recently hired a new CTO in September.