Schibsted ASA (SCHA/SCHB) – Interim Financial Statement Q2 2020

Today, Schibsted released its Q2 2020 results.

Highlights of the quarter

• EBITDA of NOK 498 million for Schibsted excluding Adevinta; -11% YoY while significantly higher than Q1 2020.
• Acquisition of Finnish online marketplace Oikotie from Sanoma announced on 16 July 2020
• Nordic Marketplaces: Revenues declined 11 percent YoY (currency adjusted) due to COVID-19 while trends have improved throughout the quarter. Cost savings led to EBITDA margin of 52 percent in Norway and 42 percent in Sweden.
• News Media: Continuous good trend for digital subscriptions, advertising revenue decline has improved throughout the quarter. Cost savings led to an EBITDA margin of 8 percent. Cost program implementation on track.
• Financial Services: Underlying revenue decline in Lendo due to COVID-19 while marketing spend has been reduced to curb EBITDA decline. Stable EBITDA margin YoY.
• Growth: Solid revenue growth driven by Distribution and Prisjakt with tailwind from COVID-19 and social distancing. EBITDA improvement quarter-on-quarter.
• Adevinta: Revenues decreased by 16 percent due to COVID-19, EBITDA decrease of 15 percent driven by the revenue shortfall (based on Adevinta’s stand-alone reporting in EUR, on a proportionate basis including JVs).

Comments from the CEO

“Schibsted has been clearly affected by COVID-19 in Q2. I am pleased to report that we, despite these circumstances, delivered solid financial results and that our measures enabled us to safeguard our employees and to continue to deliver fully functional, relevant services for our customers and clients. Revenues have improved throughout the quarter and EBITDA for Schibsted excluding Adevinta was NOK 498 million, significantly better than Q1,” CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

“Furthermore, I am excited that Schibsted has come to an agreement with Sanoma to acquire their Finnish multi-vertical online marketplace Oikotie. With this acquisition, we are strengthening our position in Jobs and Real estate in Finland. Owning Tori and Oikotie, two highly complementary online marketplaces with strong brands, will enable us to create better services for Finnish customers. We are confident that this acquisition will help us create more value for all our stakeholders going forward,” CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

“During Q2, our Nordic Marketplaces have seen a revenue decline driven by lower volumes, specifically in April and May, while temporary savings and cost control secured solid margins. In June, volumes have continued to recover in all verticals and Motor seems to be rather resilient showing year-on-year volume growth for June in both Norway and Sweden,” CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

“In our News Media businesses, revenues from digital subscriptions showed strong growth. Advertising revenues declined significantly year-on-year driven by COVID-19, yet performance was strong given the market environment due to focused product development and higher sales activity than last year. This was enabled by our decision to not do Group wide temporary layoffs but rather focus on possibilities in the mid-term. EBITDA is down year-on-year but improved significantly compared to Q1 with a strong margin of 8% for the quarter. The announced cost program to adapt the cost base to the market development, while ensuring leading online product offerings, is on track and implementation has started,” CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

“Lendo has seen an underlying revenue decline this quarter, but trends have improved in June. Finally, our e-commerce enabling businesses Distribution and Prisjakt had a tailwind from changed consumer behavior due to COVID-19 and recorded strong revenue growth in Q2,” CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

Alternative performance measures used in this release are described and presented in the section Definitions and reconciliations in the quarterly report.