Adevinta ASA

11/29/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/30/2021 03:03

Adevinta launches its plan to accelerate its profitable growth

Oslo, 30 November 2021- Adevinta, the largest online classifieds player in the western world, will today hold a Capital Markets Day for investors and analysts at 14:00 GMT.

The event is being held in London and will also be streamed live via webcast, which can be found at: www.adevinta.com/investors/financial-events.

Chief Executive Officer, Rolv Erik Ryssdal, and Uvashni Raman, Chief Financial Officer, along with other members of the Adevinta management team, will unveil the Company's new strategy, "Growing at Scale" and will provide guidance on its outlook and mid-long term targets.

The Growing at Scale strategy is underpinned by the following key priorities:

  • Focusing the portfolio, by investing in and growing our five Core markets of Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Italy
  • Concentrating on high-quality verticals: Motors and Real Estate, that present a significant opportunity to increase monetization
  • Becoming fully transactional in consumer goods, expanding into a growing and profitable online commerce market; and
  • Leveraging technology and transforming advertising to preserve revenue and adapt to the evolving market.

Adevinta CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal said:

"Our new strategy builds on our unparalleled scale, leadership positions and technology to accelerate sustainable growth. We have created a clear set of priorities that will allow Adevinta to benefit from emerging opportunities and trends in consumer behaviour.

"We will prioritise investment for growth in our five Core markets of Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Italy, and expand on our leading sector positions in Motors and Real Estate. We will also invest in product and development to stay agile and evolve our business model to reflect changing demands, such as becoming fully transactional in consumer goods. This will only be possible if we continue to provide opportunities for our talented employees, whose dedication and hard work is central to our past and future achievements.

"In line with our vision for sustainable growth, we have a clear purpose to make a positive change in the world by engaging in actions that will help shape a healthy planet and society, whilst delivering value for our stakeholders."

Focusing the portfolio, by investing in and growing our five Core markets of Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Italy.

As outlined in our recent Q3 update, Adevinta will focus investment on five core European markets that present the most opportunity for growth. Building on leading positions in Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Italy will allow the Company to grow at scale. This approach will reduce complexity and create unique benefits to scale product and commercial solutions through cross-border opportunities.

The Company will continue to be supportive of our JVs in Ireland, Austria and OLX-Brasil which remain an important part of the portfolio. We have confirmed the divestment of Australia and South Africa and othermarkets will be placed under strategic review.

Concentrating on high-quality verticals, such as Motors and Real Estate, that present a significant opportunity to increase monetization.

Adevinta has maintained its leading position despite the temporary supply pressure within the Motors vertical. We have mitigated the impact of this with successful price increases through new and improved products leaving the Company well-placed to benefit from the recovery when the market normalises. Adevinta plans to double its Motors revenues by 2026, building on its leading position in the market. By focusing on improvements to the core business, and strengthening transactional and digital capabilities, it will create a more seamless end-to-end experience for both consumers and dealers.

In Real Estate, the focus will be on growing revenues and improving monetization across core markets. The Company will focus on further verticalization and expansion along the value chain, as well as exploring adjacent markets that can provide value-added services.

Becoming fully transactional in consumer goods, expanding into a growing online commerce market.

Adevinta will shift to a fully transactional model in its consumer goods segment, driven by a rapidly expanding ecommerce market and an evolution in consumer behaviour. This will unlock a new revenue stream and the Company expects to achieve more than €400m in gross revenues from this new model by 2026 with good profit margins.

This will require short-term investment in product, technology and will be supported by the launch of new value propositions aimed at reducing friction and accelerating service adoption to create a more convenient, safe and engaging user experience.

Leveraging technology and transforming advertising to preserve revenue and adapt to the evolving market.

We are adapting to an increasingly dynamic advertising market by evolving our advertising model. We will invest in 1st party products for small and medium businesses (SMBs) and large advertisers and proprietary capabilities to reduce reliance on 3rd party advertising.

The Company will develop a new comprehensive offering for SMBs, with a new ecommerce platform providing simple functionality for businesses and customers.

Financial ambition

Underpinning Adevinta's new strategic priorities are a set of financial targets for the medium to long term:

  • Expected average annual revenue growth in Core Markets of approximately 15%,driven by growth in Motors and Real Estate verticals and strong ramp up of transactional services in consumer goods, while we expect to preserve advertising revenues.
  • Targeted EBITDA margins of c.40-45%, driven by further operating leverage in each revenue stream.
  • Medium-term Net Debt / EBITDA target of 2x - 3x
  • Expected €130m run rate EBITDA impact from synergies by year 2024, in line with original target

Primary use of cash will be investing for growth and deleveraging the balance sheet, with cash in excess to capture value accretive inorganic growth opportunities or return cash to shareholders.

Sustainability

Adevinta will strengthen its sustainability impact centered around three key areas of focus:

  • Lead the transition towards circular and responsible consumption
  • Be a purpose-driven and inclusive marketplace for everyone - our communities and our employees
  • Embed ESG governance, data and fraud protection throughout the organization

In 2022, Adevinta plans to continue the expansion of its sustainability program by further integrating ESG into the organization including the creation of a new global ESG governance framework and the introduction of ESG-linked compensation for management.

Join Adevinta Capital Markets Day 2021 live

Date: Tuesday, 30 November 2021
Time: 14:00 GMT
Click here to register: here.

For the Q&A, participants will have the possibility to send written questions during the event, directly through the webcast platform. It will not be possible to ask questions by phone.

Adevinta Capital Markets Day's presentation will be available at 13:00 GMT on 30 November 2021, on the Investor Relations pages atwww.adevinta.com/investors/adevinta-capital-markets-day-2021.