PropertyGuru Group Limited

Good day, everyone. We're letting all the attendees join the webinar and we'll start in a second. Okay. Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Property Guru Group first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. Currently, all participants are in a listen-only mode. As a reminder, today's program will be recorded. If anyone objects, please disconnect now. Now let me introduce Nat Otis, the VP of Investor Relations. Mr. Otis, please go ahead.

Good morning and good evening. Welcome to Property Guru Group's first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. On the call today are Hari Krishnan, CEO and Managing Director, and Joe Disch, CFO. Before we get started, a few reminders. Firstly, our results are available in the earnings release that can be found in the investor section of our website. Secondly, today's webcast is being recorded. A replay along with a transcript will also be available in the investor section of our website. Thirdly, we will be making forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements regarding our future results and expectations for the business. These results are neither promises nor guarantees and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary materially. Please refer to our earnings release and SEC filings for more information regarding risk factors. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and the company is not obliged to update them, except as required by law. Fourthly, this call will also contain non-IFRS financial measures. For reconciliation of non-IFRS financial measures to the most directly comparable IFRS metric, please see our earnings press release. Lastly, all dollar references are in Singapore dollars unless otherwise stated. With that, let me turn the call over to Hari.

Thank you for joining us today for our first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. We are pleased to share that PropertyGuru has started the year off on a strong note by delivering overall revenue growth of 16% and positive adjusted EBITDA, both of which are in line with our internal expectations, even with challenging conditions in Vietnam. As a result, we are maintaining the full-year 2023 revenue and adjusted EBITDA outlook that we introduced last quarter. Our success can be directly attributed to our dedicated team of gurus as we expand our product portfolio, witness growing acceptance of our existing offerings, and enhanced operational efficiency. Despite the cautious approach of some Southeast Asian policymakers towards current market conditions, we remain confident in the underlying strength of our offerings and the opportunities in the Southeast Asian property markets. In Singapore, PropertyGuru continues to benefit from a robust property market despite the introduction of additional market cooling measures by the government, such as property tax and stamp duty increases, as a mechanism for prioritizing affordable home ownership for Singaporeans. While overall GDP only grew by one-tenth of 1% in the first quarter of 2023, GDP tied to construction experienced a significant increase of 8.5%. This robust construction sector growth bodes well for increased supply in the coming quarters. Our property market report brings positive news as sales demand shows improvement from the previous quarter and both sales and rental pricing remain strong, albeit with transactions below first quarter 2022 levels. We continue to thrive with resilient pricing, high customer engagement and successful new products in Singapore. We introduced MRT-featured agents, a premium product that allows consumers to find specialist agents and available properties based on their proximity to specific train stations. We also launched promoted listings for developers in both Singapore and Malaysia, increasing awareness and leads for their properties as the volume of new projects launched continues to increase. In Malaysia, we are encouraged as our revenue growth has been supported by improved pricing and operational leverage from both our brands. Our strengthening presence in Malaysia is crucial for our future success, and we believe that the uncertainties surrounding the national elections are subsiding. Additionally, we introduced Know Your Customer in Malaysia, which strengthens lead quality for our agents and provides customized recommendations to consumers. Vietnam presents some challenges in the near term, as the government continues to restrict credit for the property market. The number of our listings declined, and many property-related firms halted business in the quarter, but we continued to invest in the product as we revamped the primary search experience, offering simplified ad choices, longer default durations, and improved listing quality. On a macro level, there are positive developments, such as the government's decision to lower interest rates in March, aiming to stimulate growth. Looking ahead, the Vietnamese economy's longer-term outlook remains positive, with the possibility of an inflection point for the property market in the second half of 2023. In our data services business, following our expansion of DataSense across all our markets in the first quarter, we undertook a technical upgrade of our interactive maps to further enhance the customer experience, once again reinforcing our commitment to stay at the forefront of technological advancements and deliver the best possible solutions to our customers. On that note, I would also add that we have been exploring the application of generative AI for over a year now, with internal-facing initiatives on software development productivity, code quality, and customer verification. In addition, we're also experimenting with external-facing features to improve our content and consumer experience. In FinTech, as of the end of March, our mortgage business had brokered over S$4 billion worth of home loans, demonstrating the trust and confidence that customers have placed in PropertyGuru as their preferred platform for securing home financing. Lastly, we have made several top-notch additions to our leadership team. Disha Goenka Das has joined us as Chief Marketing Officer. Helen Snowball has joined us as Chief People Officer, and Manav Kamboj, our Chief Technology Officer, has expanded his remit to also serve as our Managing Director of FinTech. A strong and stable leadership team and board have been central to our success over the last several years. We are confident that these new additions to the team will only strengthen our capabilities in the years ahead. On a broader note, we are focused on the management of our cost base given current market conditions. And as a result, I would note that our overall headcount is already coming down. Just to wrap things up before passing the call over to Joe, the business continues to perform well as we leverage our value additive solutions and strong customer acceptance to deliver solid growth in a challenging environment. We remain bullish on our growth prospects, improving profitability, and the fundamental opportunity that exists in our core markets. Let me now turn the call over to Joe to review our financial performance.