Scout24 Posts 11th Consecutive Quarter of Double Digit Growth as Customer Numbers Surge

Leading German real estate portal operator, Scout24 has revealed that it grew revenues by 14% in the second quarter of 2024 thanks to strong demand for its core products. Highlights of the company's report for the three months ended June 30th include:

• Revenue of €139.5 million, up 14.3% year-on-year.
• Ordinary Operating EBITDA stood at €87 million, up 11.3%.
• Agent customer numbers grew by 2.4% and private customer numbers grew 27.1%.

Commenting on the report, Scout24's CEO, Tobias Hartmann said:

“We are in full swing successfully executing our strategy: Our interconnected three-sided marketplace continued to gain relevance, both content and app traffic increased. In the second quarter, our agent membership business continued to add new customers. Our private subscriber growth even accelerated compared to the first quarter. This is the result of our long-term investment in a uniquely networked product world that is well received by all market participants. Our new brand campaign will drive our reach towards younger target groups even further”

The results represent the eleventh consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth for Scout24, which has benefited greatly from the growth of its lauded consumer subscription products reported in its 'Private' segment over the last few years.

Subscriber numbers for the segment are up by 27% compared to Q2 of 2023 and have surpassed 340,000 for the first time. The business also saw its profit margin increase in Q2 reaching 58% and generating over €23 million in Ordinary Operating EBITDA.

In Q2 though it was the company's core 'Professional' segment which shone posting 14.4% revenue growth year-on-year and growing its customer base. The number of agents listing with ImmoScout has been on an upward trajectory over the course of the last few years, reaching 22,359 in the second quarter despite a tight real estate market.

Scout24 has been slowly hearding its agent customers towards membership subscriptions and away from the traditional pay-per-listing model and the company reported that revenue from memberships grew 9.4% in the second quarter.

Looking forward, Scout24 announced that it plans to report only two segments with the Media & Other segment (which houses the group's Austrian business, third-party advertising and CRM software) being merged into the Professional segment in future reporting.

In its strategy update, the company mentioned plans to introduce "a new and improved search function powered by artificial intelligence" which were first alluded to in its Capital Markets Day presentation back in March.

Despite the positive results, shares in Scout24 were down nearly 4% from their opening price of €71.9 by mid-afternoon perhaps reflecting a decrease in the company's reported earnings per share (€1.01 for HY1, down 8% year-on-year) which was attributed to higher income taxes.