Scout24 Sees Strategy Start to Pay Off as Consumer Plus Subscriptions Pass 300k in Q3

The German portal operator Scout24 has published its results for Q3 of the 2022 financial calendar. Highlights of the Berlin-based company's performance over the three months ended September 30th include:

• Revenue increased by 18%  year-on-year to €114.7m.
• Plus product subscribers up to 315,000 with segment revenues up 34% to €31.6m
• Ordinary operating EBITDA up by 17.3% to €63.9.

Unlike other real estate portal companies whose Q3s have been negatively impacted by inflation and the macroeconomic environment, Scout24 has reportedly seen positive effects according to a release to shareholders.

"The structural shifts in the market caused by inflation and higher interest rates are leading to increased demand for marketing and services and are thus having a positive impact on product demand from agents and private individuals."

The results represent the third successful quarter of the year for the operator of leading German and Austrian portal ImmobilienScout24 which is now beginning to see the investment in its diversified consumer subscription products pay dividends.

"The third quarter of 2022 is the strongest in terms of revenue for Scout24’s real estate business since the IPO in 2015. We maintained our growth momentum and translated our diversified product offering into strong results. At the same time, we are helping all market participants to succeed in a changed real estate market.

The accelerated revenue growth mirrors both the success of our strategic development and the future growth potential ahead of us. We are confident that we will continue our momentum throughout 2022 and that Scout24 will remain on its growth track in 2023," said Tobias Hartmann, CEO of Scout24

Outlined at a capital markets day in 2021, Scout24's strategy over the last few years has been to divide its revenue generation into customer type segments: Professional (agents), Private (landlord and home seekers) and Media & Other.

The Private segment continues to grow well and investors and company execs will be pleased that ImmobilienScout24's three Plus subscription products now have 315,000 users between them and generated a very healthy €31.6m in revenue at 42.6% ordinary operating EBITDA margin.

It wasn't only the Private segment that performed well in Q3. There was a 13% rise in Professional revenue and a 7.5% rise in the revenue generated from media sales.

The number of listings on ImmobilienScout24 was up over 400,000 for the first time since Q3 of 2021 although traffic dropped slightly both in terms of overall visits and average unique monthly users.