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Scout24 Se
10/30/2025
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Scout24 third quarter and nine months 2025 earnings call. My name is Filip Lindvall and I'm vice president group strategy and investor relations at Scout24. With me on the call today are Ralf Weitz, our chief executive officer, and Dirk Schmelzer, our chief financial officer. Ralf will start the presentation with key business highlights and Dirk will provide a detailed overview of our financial results. As always, we will conclude the call with a Q&A session. You can find today's presentation on our website under financial reports and presentations. This session will be recorded and a replay will be made available as quickly as possible after the event. Please take note of the disclaimer on page two. Ralf, now over to you.
Thank you, Philipp, and welcome to everyone joining us today. Let's turn to page four, where I will walk you through the key highlights for the third quarter and first nine months of 2025. Building on the already strong first half results, we continued to deliver a strong financial performance in the third quarter. Revenue increased by 15%, bringing our nine-month growth to 15.3%. Importantly, we continue to deliver consistent, strong, double-digit organic growth. Our product and tech strategy is working. We are winning customers with AI power tools, better data, and improved platform features. Consequently, this drives higher revenue per customer. Our ecosystem keeps growing. More agents, more private customers, more content and engagement. As customers use more of our products, our margins naturally expand. We are also running the company more efficiently with AI. This allowed us to expand our ordinary operating EBITDA margin over the nine months, even by investing in innovation and integrating acquisitions with lower margins. Our core businesses both continue to perform strongly. B2B memberships delivered industry-leading revenue and customer growth, with revenue up 16.7%, driven by our comprehensive product offerings. Private subscriptions maintained high teens momentum at 17.8%. On innovation, we are leading with product and technology. Last quarter, I said we would launch Hey Immo, our AI chatbot. It's now live. giving users intelligent property search assistance. We are not stopping there. We are bringing AI to more parts of our platform. This makes agents more productive and helps property seekers find their homes faster. On M&A, we announced Fotocasa & Habitacle in Spain, an investment at an attractive price. Spain is one of Europe's most dynamic real estate markets with strong German buyer interest. We will apply our playbook, improving their B2B business, enhancing platform and user experience, implementing AI and adding Spanish listings to our German platform. Over time, this acquisition will strengthen our German B2B membership products even further, giving our agents access to the Spanish market. Our M&A strategy has not changed. Our focus remains Germany. However, this acquisition was a great opportunity and we took it. Our priority for the foreseeable future is executing this playbook on Spain, while Germany remains our core with substantial runway. Finally, on our 2025 guidance, we are narrowing guidance based on strong nine-month results and clear Q4 visibility. We now expect the upper end for OEBTA margin and the mid to upper end for revenue growth. This will be our fifth straight year of double-digit growth. It shows Scout24's quality as a compounder executing our strategy consistently. Let's turn to page five for an update on our customer-based development. Starting with our professional segment, we now serve more than 26.1 thousand customers, representing 5.7% year-over-year growth. In Austria, our customer base returned to growth in Q3, a clear sign that the market is stabilizing and our product continues resonating with customers there. This customer growth is a result of market share gains and our comprehensive product portfolio. We offer CRM, marketing, valuation, and data tools that cover the full agent workflow. Our responsible pricing approach creates trust and predictability, minimizing churn. Turning to our private segment, we have surpassed 526,000 subscribers, up 14.5% year over year. This includes impressive net ads of 24,000 in Q3, representing 4.9% quarter-on-quarter growth, consistent with 2024's strong quarterly performance. 2024 growth benefited from our March 2023 shift from two-month to three-month minimum subscriptions. This drove lifetime extensions and revenue growth throughout 2024. We have now lapped that benefit, so our current mid-teens growth reflects the underlying strengths of our Plus product. On the homeowner side, we now have 2.4 million homeowner registrations, up over 60% year-over-year, And 3.5 million objects under management, up 51% year-over-year. Looking at page 6, I would like to share the German real estate market dynamics in the third quarter. The German residential real estate market remains healthy. Transactions are taking place and agents are making good business. Our Scout 24 transaction momentum index reached 92 in Q3, confirming this positive momentum. Moving to content, our listings index surpassed 149 in Q3. We now have over 600,000 high-quality listings on the ImmoScout24 platform. Sellers and landlords choose us because of our brand trust, reach, and ability to connect them with the best buyers and renters. Demand indicators remain strong. Contact requests for rental properties stand at 175, maintaining elevated levels throughout the year. On the buy side, the index reached 130, showing resilient buyer interest. Let me conclude with some key takeaways on page seven. Our results show consistent execution. We are proving that we can innovate, grow double digits, integrate M&A, and expand margins at the same time. This is powered by our product strategy. Customers choose us for best-in-class products. workflow tools for agents and valuable services for property seekers. This drives strong revenue and customer growth across both segments. We are implementing AI like HeyImmo powered by our unique data. We have unmatched property data through Sprengnetter and Bolvingesa, plus unique user profiles and over 2 million registered homeowners. AI enables us to deliver next level experiences competitors can't match. It's our advantage, not a threat. German market fundamentals remain strong, and SCAO24 is extremely well positioned to capture this opportunity, giving us confidence in long-term B2B and B2C growth in 2026 and beyond. On B2B, Germany's agent market is highly fragmented, giving us a huge customer base to distribute our workflow products to. Agent work is complex with limited data access, so our products help digitizing and simplifying their business. Agents earn strong commissions, but current online take rates offer significant upside potential for us. We position ourselves as partners through transparent, responsible pricing. On B2C, Germany has over 3 million annual rental transactions, a massive market. Scout24 offers products for the entire journey, renting, buying and living. These fundamentals give us clear visibility for sustained growth as we expand. As I said earlier, our focus remains Germany. However, our Spain acquisition represents a great opportunity where we can bring our B2B and B2C knowledge to improve their operations and expand our footprint. This also strengthened our German B2B membership products by giving agents access to the Spanish market. Based on our strong nine-month results and clear visibility into Q4, we are narrowing our full year guidance. We now expect to achieve the upper end of OOEBTA margin guidance and the mid to upper end of the revenue growth range. Our fifth consecutive year of double-digit growth. We are also confident about carrying this momentum from our core business into 2026, where we expect double-digit organic revenue growth again. Now, I hand over to Dirk.
Thank you, Ralf, and welcome, everyone. Let's move to the financial section of our presentation on page 9. Q3 was another strong quarter. Mid-teens revenue and ordinary operating EBITDA growth double-digit organic growth and 20% adjusted EPS growth. Cash flow continues to grow impressively in line with EBITDA. Revenue grew 15% in both Q3 and 9 months. Our core subscription business maintained momentum while acquisitions contributed meaningfully. On profitability, 9-month ordinary operating EBITDA margin reached 61.9%. 60 basis points of expansion despite integrating lower margin acquisitions. Adjusted EPS for the nine-month period also grew 20%. Turning to page 10, our professional segment, which delivered another outstanding quarter. Revenue grew 15.1% in Q3 to 119 million euros, maintaining our exceptional momentum with 15.2% growth for the nine months. Our subscription business keeps delivering strong results. At 16.7% growth in Q3, this is a truly remarkable achievement. On an organic basis, we are still delivering robust 13.3% growth, demonstrating the fundamental strengths of our membership model. What makes this performance even more impressive is our customer growth. Up 5.7% to an average of 26.1 thousand in Q3. with organic growth of 5% in Germany, excluding Neubau Kompass. We are capturing share and expanding our customer base at a pace rarely seen in established markets. Notably, Austria has also returned to customer growth in Q3. We are now seeing ARPU acceleration as well, up 10.4% in Q3 compared to 8.3% in Q2. This acceleration is primarily driven by strong adoption of new products at Neubau Kompass. So we have both customer growth and accelerating revenue per customer, a powerful combination. Transaction enablement revenue reflects a mixed performance across business lines. The CRM business delivered the strongest growth and demand for data and valuation services remained robust. While homeowner leads showed stable development, demand for mortgage, ESG and relocation leads remained soft. Ordinary operating EBITDA for nine months increased 14.1% to 216.5 million euros. The segment margin came in at 61.8%, down 60 base points year over year, primarily due to the dilutive impact from integrating recent acquisitions with lower initial margin profiles. Turning to the private segment on page 11, we delivered another impressive performance in Q3. Private segment revenue grew 14.7% to 46.7 million euros in Q3, with nine-month revenues reaching 133.8 million euros, up 15.5%. Our Plus subscription products remained the growth engine, delivering robust 17.8% growth in the quarter. we reached 527,000 subscribers on average during Q3, adding 24,000 net subscribers versus Q2, representing strong quarter-on-quarter growth of 4.9%. ARPU increased 2.9% to 17.6 euros in Q3. The lower growth compared to the first two quarters reflects the year-on-year increased base effect due to last year's introduction of the dual vendor strategy for credit checks. Our PPA business showed acceleration, growing 15.1% in Q3 to 15 million euros, a clear step up from Q2. This acceleration reflects three factors. Improving market dynamics in the sales market, our product simplification efforts and the continued strengths of our brand. Ordinary operating EBITDA increased 23.3% for the nine months to 83.1 million euros, with margins expanding 400 basis points to 62.1%. This outperformance was driven by the strongly growing subscription business, higher PPA bookings, and the scalability and operational excellence of our business models. Turning to page 12, let's take a closer look at the main ordinary operating items for Q3 and the nine-month period. Due to the completion of projects, own work capitalized decreased 20.3% in Q3, representing approximately 2.7% of revenue. Operating expenses grew 11.8% in Q3 and 11.1% for nine months, substantially below our 15% revenue growth. creating strong operating leverage. On an organic basis, this discipline is even more impressive. Expenses rose only mid-single digits. Personal cost remains stable on an organic basis. The 10.2% increase for the third quarter period reflects the consolidation of new companies into our scope. Looking at marketing expenses, you will see a slight increase in Q3. What's important to note is that on an organic basis, our marketing costs actually declined. This reflects the continued efficiency gains we are achieving in our leads business through our interconnectivity strategy. We have been able to reinvest a portion of these savings back into brand marketing, which positions us well for sustained growth going forward. IT costs rose 15.8% in Q3, driven by cloud infrastructure expansion AI capabilities and new ERP system implementation alongside acquisition integrations. These investments are already improving operational efficiency through infrastructure standardization while ensuring scalability. Purchasing cost increased 20.2% in the quarter, reflecting higher demand for third-party valuation services due to the growth at Sprengneta and Bulvingesa. Ordinary operating EBITDA grew strongly in Q3, with margins remaining resilient year over year. For the nine months, ordinary operating EBITDA increased significantly, delivering 60 base points of margin expansion to 61.9%, despite integrating acquisitions with lower initial margin profiles. On an organic basis, margins reached 64% in Q3, and 63.2% for the nine months, demonstrating our underlying operational strengths and the scalability of our business model. This strong performance demonstrates our ability to balance multiple priorities, investing in product innovation, integrating acquisitions, and using AI to simplify operations. As our ecosystem grows with more customers and interconnections, we gain natural operating leverage. Turning to page 13, where we show the items below ordinary operating EBITDA. Non-operating effects were higher year-to-date, but moderated significantly in Q3 compared to Q2. The nine-month increase reflects M&A costs from a Sprengnetter, earn-out revaluation and advisory fees related to the Spain acquisition. Share-based compensation normalized after an elevated Q2. D&A increased slightly in Q3, driven by acquisition-related purchase price amortization. The financial result improved in both periods, primarily driven by the lower expenses from M&A purchase price liability revaluations and reduced interest expenses. This was partially offset by foreign exchange impacts as the dollar weakened against the euro. On taxes, Q3 benefited from a 43 million euro one-time gain. On July 11th, the German Federal Council passed legislation gradually reducing corporate tax rates starting in 2028. This required us to revalue our deferred tax positions at the future lower rates, creating a one-time benefit that significantly boosted Q3 net income. This gain will have a cash impact on the operative businesses 2028 going forward. For the full year 2025, we now expect an income tax rate of approximately 15%. Excluding this one-time benefit, the normalized rate would be around 30%. Net income for Q3 more than doubled to 101.5 million euros, reflecting both the strong operational performance and this one-time tax gain. Basic EPS reached €1.41 in Q3 and €2.64 for the nine-month period, up 55.9%. Adjusted net income and adjusted EPS, which exclude all one-offs like this tax benefit, showed strong underlying performance. Adjusted EPS grew 19.3% in Q3 to 90 cents and 20.3% for the nine months to €2.55. Let's turn to page 14 for the bridge from reported net income to adjusted net income for Q3 2025. Non-operating effects, excluding share buyback, totaled €5.8 million. This was driven by an increased earn-out valuation for Sprengnetter and M&A-related advisory fees. Share-based compensation returned to normal levels in Q3, after the exceptionally high Q2. The large tax deduction in the bridge represents the reversal of the one-time tax gain. Importantly, the majority of non-operating effects in Q3 will have no cash impact in 2025. Turning now to page 15 in cash flow. Free cash flow for the nine months reached 202.4 million euros, up 17% year on year. outpacing both revenue and ordinary operating EBITDA growth. This was driven by strong operating performance and positive working capital effects from non-cash, non-operating costs. Our conversion ratios remain excellent. Free cash flow representing 110% of adjusted net income and 68% of ordinary operating EBITDA demonstrating strong cash conversions. Turning to page 16 to leverage and capital allocation. Our leverage ratio decreased to 0.38x at the end of Q3 2025, driven by strong cash generation and in line with the typical seasonality of Q3. In the third quarter, we allocated 36.6 million euros to share repurchases, bringing total buybacks for the nine-month period to 74.9 million euros. We increased our buyback volumes in Q3, taking advantage of the share price decline during the quarter to repurchase more stock at what we view as very attractive valuations. Importantly, the Fotocasa and Habitatlia acquisition does not change our capital allocation policy. We will continue our share buyback program and progressive dividend policy. For M&A, our near-term focus is executing the Spain playbook. We remain open to German bolt-on opportunities when they arise. But international expansion is not on the agenda for the foreseeable future. We continue executing on all organic growth investments within our current operating expense base. Moving to the guidance on page 17. Based on our strong nine-month performance and continued momentum, we are narrowing our full-year guidance as follows. Revenue growth, mid to upper end of our 14% to 15% range. Ordinary operating EBITDA margin, upper end of our guidance. As a reminder, we guide it for up to 70 basis points of margin expansion. With this guidance, we are on track to deliver our fifth consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth and third consecutive year of margin expansion. Let me highlight what is embedded in our Q4 outlook. In professional memberships, we will start lapping strong prior year customer growth that accelerated in Q4 2024. In private subscriptions, we expect the typical Q4 seasonality with lower SICA activity towards year end. In addition, we will continue to lap the dual vendor credit check APU benefit. We expect growth in transaction enablement to remain at current levels. Given these factors, we expect Q4 revenue growth to be lower than previous quarters this year. And here are some early thoughts for 2026. We have high level of confidence in maintaining the strong growth dynamics of our core business going into 2026. We expect 2026 to be another year of double-digit organic growth for Scout24. In terms of ordinary operating EBITDA margin, we expect at least 63% for our existing business, excluding Fotokasa and Habitaklia. Fotokasa and Habitaklia will dilute group-reported ordinary operating EBITDA margin by low single digits in 2026. By 2027, we anticipate these Spanish assets becoming accretive to Scouts' ordinary operating EBITDA growth, with group margin expansion resuming as we apply our proven playbook. And finally on taxes, the German corporate tax rate will gradually decline from 30% today to around 25% by 2032, roughly one percentage point annually starting in 2028. This represents a meaningful structural tailwind to our cash generation that is worth incorporating into your long term valuations. We are delivering strong results and have narrowed our full year guidance toward the upper end of our ranges. This positions us for our fifth consecutive year of double digit growth with momentum continuing into 2026. We will provide our next update during the Q4 and full year 2025 earnings call on February 26th, 2026. With that, let's open for questions. Please limit to two questions per speaker. Operator, over to you.
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