Scout24 Records Record Growth in Memberships and Excites the Stock Market

The success story of the internet portal operator Scout24 continues: With an impressive increase in professional clients and private subscribers, the company begins the new year with strong momentum and reaches historical peaks according to the statement of CEO Tobias Hartmann. This development prompted investors to shake up the stock market, leading to a noticeable gain in share price. On Thursday, Scout24 shares soared, hitting their highest value since late summer 2021, at times gaining up to 5.5 percent. Despite a later stabilization to an increase of about one percent, shares became one of the top performers in the MDax, an index representing medium-sized listed companies. A distinctive feature of this growth is the 413,200 private customers currently paying for additional features. These additional services include benefits such as priority in contacting landlords and brokers. Scout24 also benefits from the acquisition of the Sprengnetter Group, which was completed last year, which analyst Marcus Diebel of JPMorgan considers an encouraging sign for further customer growth. Financially, Scout24 is also recording positive trends: The Group's sales in the first quarter grew by nearly 12 percent to 136 million Euros compared to the previous year. The operating result before special items, EBITDA, climbed by 16.5 percent to 79.5 million Euros, while the operational margin improved by 2.4 percentage points to 58.4 percent. In the end, a net result of 39.4 million Euros remains, representing a growth of over six percent compared to the same period last year. The forecast for the year 2024 has been confirmed by the management: After an outstanding revenue increase last year, growth of between nine and eleven percent is now expected. Moreover, Hartmann and CFO Dirk Schmelzer aim to increase profitability, measured by the adjusted EBITDA margin, to an estimated 61 percent. The focus will be on increasing earning power and further improving profitability.