Adevinta ASA (ADE) – Adevinta reports solid Q1 financial performance and strong progress in the execution of its “Growing at Scale” strategy; FY 2022 and Core Markets mid-to-long term targets confirmed

• Q1 2022 results performance in line with Q4 trends, with Core markets revenues up 7% year-on-year and Group EBITDA margin up 70 basis points vs. Q4 2021 
• Portfolio optimisation progressing at pace, with exit process underway for Australia, South Africa and Mexico and the sale of Infojobs Brazil and Belarus completed
• eBay Classifieds Group’s integration roadmap on track, synergy targets confirmed

Oslo, 24 May 2022 - Adevinta ASA (ADE) (“Adevinta” or “the Company”) reported solid revenue growth of 6% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. Our marketplaces once again proved resilient despite continued supply pressure in the Motors vertical. Underlying EBITDA was 137 million euro in the first quarter of 2022, representing a 35.3% underlying EBITDA margin. 

Core Markets posted revenue growth of 7% in the quarter, despite ongoing softness in the Motors market:

• Online classifieds revenues improved by 8% year-on-year, supported by double-digit revenue growth in Jobs and Consumer Goods and by high single-digit growth in Real Estate. Motors revenues were back to growth, benefitting from successful price increases, higher dealer penetration and product development with high added value for car dealers;
• Transactional revenues grew by 42% year-on-year, with strong traction in France, Germany and Italy;
• Advertising revenues were down 4% year-on-year as a result of an overall weaker advertising market, especially in automotive display advertising. 

Gross operating profit from continuing operations (reported EBITDA) decreased by 3% compared to the first quarter of 2021, to 125 million euro. Revenue growth was offset by an anticipated increase in personnel costs due to higher charges related to (i) the ramp-up in product and technology resources to fuel product innovation and new business models, (ii) the build-up of global capacities ahead of eBay Transition Service Agreement (TSA) exits and also (iii) higher share-based compensation (up c.5 million euro year-on-year). 

Costs from transactional services also increased in the quarter, in line with the adoption of the service and revenue growth. Marketing investment reduced year-on-year due to different phasing of marketing campaigns compared to last year and spend control. 

Rolv Erik Ryssdal, CEO Adevinta, comments: 

“Executing our “Growing at Scale” strategy meant our teams continued to develop and deploy attractive and innovative solutions aimed at improving the overall user experience and satisfaction. 

“Our solid financial position and cash generation profile allowed us to accelerate our share buy-back programme and invest in transformation to operate even more efficiently in the longer term. We made good progress with our integration roadmap, and we are preparing to exit most of the TSAs with eBay in the second quarter. I am proud to see how our people have come together to set us up for success. 

“Finally, our portfolio optimisation is progressing at pace with the sales of Infojobs in Brazil and Kufar in Belarus, and the announced exit of Mexico. We expect to reach agreement on the sales of Australia and South Africa by the end of the third quarter. I remain very positive about the many opportunities that we have ahead of us for 2022 and beyond. Despite the current challenging environment, I am confident we will achieve the financial targets that we set for this year and our mid-to-long term targets.”

Highlights of Q1 2022 

Q1 2022 results performance: as expected, in line with Q4 trends

Revenue growth1: 6% despite Motors headwinds

• Total consolidated revenues of €387m
  Strong growth in Jobs (+35%), Consumer Goods (+14%) and Real Estate (+9%) 
• Strong acceleration of number of Consumer Goods transactions, especially in France (+41%) and eBay Kleinanzeigen (+212%)
• Motors back to growth (+2%) with supply shortage impact more than offset by ARPD growth and strong market shares
• Advertising revenue down 6% year-on-year due to lower OEM spend and weaker market environment 
• Core markets revenue growth: +7% year-on-year (classifieds revenues up 8%, transactional services revenues up 42%) 

EBITDA margin of 32.3%, up 70 bps vs Q4 2021

• Underlying EBITDA2 of €137m
• Total consolidated EBITDA of €125m

Strong cash flow generation profile

Deleveraging priority balanced with opportunistic acceleration of share buy-back

Strategy: further execution of our Growing at scale plan
eCG integration roadmap on track

Portfolio optimisation progressing at pace

• Exit process underway for Australia, South Africa and Mexico
• Sale of Infojobs Brazil and Belarus completed

Continued delivery on our strategic pillars

• Increased monetisation of our Motors and Real Estate verticals
• Continued rapid scaling and product launches of our transactional services
• Ongoing shift to 1P of advertising
  

Outlook: all targets confirmed

Core Markets mid-to-long targets confirmed

• c. 15% average annual revenue growth 
• 40-45% EBITDA margin

FY 2022 target confirmed

• Low double-digit revenue growth in core markets
• Underlying EBITDA2 in the range of €575m to €600m excluding discontinued operations
• Sequential improvement expected quarter after quarter

Synergy targets confirmed

• Expected €130m run rate EBITDA impact from synergies by 2024, of which €35m at the end of FY2022 

Key figures

Combined: these figures reflect the results of Adevinta group as if the eBay Classifieds Group (acquired on 25 June 2021) has been part of the group during the full periods presented. These numbers are presented to facilitate comparability and are unaudited.

Operating revenues by category

Combined: these figures reflect the results of Adevinta group as if the eBay Classifieds Group (acquired on 25 June 2021) has been part of the group during the full periods presented. These numbers are presented to facilitate comparability and are unaudited.

Presentation of the Q1 2022 Results

Quarterly Earnings Release

Time: 24 May 2022 at 07:00 CEST

Report for the first quarter 2022, presentation materials, and spreadsheet with key figures and analytical information will be made available on the investor relations pages at https://adevinta.com/ir.

Presentation of the Quarterly Results 

Time:  08:30 CET

The company will conduct the presentation as a live audio webcast and conference call, including a Q&A session. CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal and CFO Uvashni Raman will present. The whole management team of Adevinta will participate in the Q&A session. 

The webcast will be available on https://adevinta.com/ir and on this link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/wyrb8bpe. Participants are also invited to ask questions using the dial-in numbers below. 

Dial-in details:

Norway: +47 21 56 30 15

UK: +44 (0) 207 192 8338

USA: +1 646 741 31 67

Confirmation code: 5578959

A recording of the presentation will be available on our website shortly after the live webcast has ended.

Attachments
Q1 2022 Quarterly Report
Q1 2022 Results Presentation
Q1 2022 Financials and Analytical Information
Q1 2022 Financials and Analytical Information(xlsx)