Scout24 Board Achieves Gender Parity, Approves Share Buyback and €1 Dividend

The German market-leading real estate portal operator Scout24 celebrated its first in-person annual general meeting for three years earlier this week. Key resolutions passed by the company's Board of Directors included:

• A dividend of €1 per share was approved.
• Two board members retired with two female successors elected to the Supervisory Board.
• Renewal of authorisation for further share buybacks.

Scout24's dividend represents an 18% increase in that paid out after last year's AGM and is a reflection of the success of the company's ambitious three-sided marketplace strategy which was mentioned in CEO, Tobias Hartmann's speech:

"Our three-sided marketplace successfully brings together owners, seekers and professional customers in a trusted environment. This strategic diversification has once again proven to be very resilient in a changing real estate market over the past year. We are and will remain the first touchpoint for our customers and users. We will continue to drive the digitalization and simplification of real estate transactions to enable more efficient and sustainable transactions for all market participants."

Scout24's consumer subscription products had nearly 350,000 customers when the company released its Q1 results at the start of May. The Berlin-based portal operator has been growing revenue at an EBITDA margin of over 50% consistently since the worst of the pandemic.

"The combination of a sustained good business development and the repurchase of our own shares has also enabled us to significantly increase earnings and the dividend per share and create attractive returns for our shareholders," said Dr Dirk Schmelzer, Chief Financial Officer of Scout24.

The other significant development from the AGM which a company press release was keen to emphasize was the appointment of Maya Miteva and Sohaila Ouffata to Scout24's Board of Directors.

Sohailla Ouffata

Maya Miteva

Maya Miteva is described as "a real estate expert" with "proven expertise in M&A and corporate finance" while Sohaila Ouffata is experienced in venture capitalism as well as "innovative business models and digital products".

Their appointment follows the retirement of previous members Christoph Brand and Peter Schwarzenbauer and, notably, brings gender parity to Scout24's board for the first time.