Norwegian media giant Schibsted has released its third quarter financial results, attributing its highest ever gross operating profit to its online classifieds operations
In a company statement, CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal said:
“In Q3 2016 Schibsted reported its highest ever gross operating profit number for a third quarter. This was a result of continuing revenue growth and improved profitability margins in the online classifieds operations as well as online growth and significant cost reductions in the media houses.
“In Online classifieds, we see continued high growth rates in France and steady high single digit growth in Scandinavia. As previously communicated, the growth in Spain has slowed down as a result of economical conditions. Other developed operations, like Italy, Austria and Ireland are all growing well, and producing positive EBITDA for the second consecutive quarter.
Click here for Q3 2016 highlights
“It is particularly pleasing to see that the operations in emerging markets, for example in Brazil, are showing great progress in terms of monetization. The combined losses in our joint venture operations in investment phase are reduced with more than 75 percent since Q3 2015. In Europe, our native app Shpock is repetitively setting new records in terms of traffic and engagement, and producing good return on the investments made there.”
“Schibsted’s build-up of product and technology capabilities is progressing well, and new products and functionalities are being introduced regularly. In Q3, our new advertising platform was ramped further up, and within online classifieds, centrally developed components, like messaging functionality for marketplace apps, are being rolled out across our portfolio. Also, our next generation classifieds platform was launched in the first test market, Greece.
“Our newspapers in Norway and Sweden continue to face negative revenue development driven by rapid decline in print advertising. In Q3 we have managed to adapt the cost base fast enough to increase the EBITDA margin. It is also encouraging to see the number of digital subscribers growing rapidly. We believe this will be an important revenue driver for quality media in the future.
“The operations in Schibsted Growth continue to develop well. This goes for both personal finance sites, like Lendo, and price comparison.”
