Adevinta reports solid performance despite a challenging environment in Q4

• Flat yoy total revenues¹ at €200m, with online classifieds revenues¹ up 4% yoy, benefiting from growing contribution from transactional revenues
• EBITDA margin¹ slightly decreasing yoy at 25.6% due to acceleration of investments through Q4, in line with expectations
• Accelerated deployment of transactional solutions
• Further progress towards completion of the eBay Classifieds Group acquisition
• Closing of Grupo Zap acquisition, start of integration phase

Oslo, 11 February 2021 - Adevinta ASA (ADE) (“Adevinta” or “the Company”) reported flat revenues¹ in Q4 2020 compared to Q4 2019, corresponding to a 1.4% increase excluding impacts of disposal, acquisitions and forex. This demonstrates further sequential improvement in the performance despite the challenging environment and increased Covid-19 restrictions in our key markets.

Online classifieds revenues increased 4% in Q4 2020 while display advertising revenues decreased 6% year-on-year. Changes in the scope of consolidation (disposals in Global Market and Grupo Zap acquisition) had a 1 point impact on revenue growth and changes in exchange rate had a negative 2.4 point impact.

Gross operating profit (EBITDA) including JVs decreased 2% compared to Q4 2019. As expected, the negative impact of Covid-19 in our main markets and the accelerated investment in marketing and talent and the ramp-up of transactional services led to a slight year-on-year contraction in EBITDA margin.

Rolv Erik Ryssdal, CEO, commented: “We ended the troubled year of 2020 with a solid Q4 performance. Despite increased restrictions to curb Covid-19 in our key markets, we maintained strong revenue levels, demonstrating the resilience of our industry and the robustness of our best-in-class products and services.

“We continued to develop our teams and to invest in our products to provide more efficient solutions for our customers and sustain our long-term growth. We ramped up marketing investment to take advantage of the recovery and opportunities we saw. This led to a sequential drop in EBITDA margin, though remaining at a level comparable to the same period last year.

“We also progressed towards the acquisition of eBay Classifieds Group and continue to prepare for a Q1 2021 closing, subject to further regulatory approvals.

“Another key milestone for us was the closing of the Grupo Zap acquisition in Brazil. We have started to integrate the business with OLX Brasil, with synergies expected as early as 2021. In addition, the optimisation of our Global Markets portfolio will allow for stronger focus and reduced complexity going forward.

“We remain confident in our long term growth prospects as the adoption of online classifieds tools and solutions continues to accelerate. We strive to deliver the best digital experiences to our users and customers as we expand on the online classifieds value chain.”   

Q4 2020 Highlights

Solid revenue performance despite increasingly challenging environment in Q4

• Flat yoy total revenues¹ at €200m
• Online classifieds revenues¹ up 4% yoy with growing contribution from transactional revenues
• Display advertising revenues¹ down 6% yoy with mixed performance across countries
  
  

Acceleration of investment through Q4, in line with expectations

• Ramp-up of marketing investment in line with market recovery
• EBITDA margin¹ slightly decreasing yoy at 25.6%
  
  

Strong focus on customer-centric innovation

• Accelerated deployment of transactional solutions
• Increasing machine learning applications to improve ad insertion process and personalisation
  
  

Further progress towards completion of the eBay Classifieds Group acquisition

• Good progress on Integration planning and regulatory approval process
• Targeting closing in Q1, subject to regulatory approvals
  
  

Increased focus and reduced complexity following asset disposals in Global Markets

Closing of Grupo Zap acquisition, start of integration phase

• Organisational and brand structure implemented
• Synergies expected as from 2021
  
  

Key financial numbers 

Alternative performance measures (APM) used in this report are described and presented in the Definitions and Reconciliations section at the end of the report. 

	Fourth quarter		(€ million)	YTD
yoy%	2019	2020		2020	2019	yoy%
0%	200.2	200.2	Operating revenues incl. JVs	727.2	739.5	-2%
-2%	52.4	51.3	EBITDA incl. JVs	193.5	206.1	-6%
	26%	26%	EBITDA margin incl. JVs	27%	28%
			Operating revenues - segments
8%	101.5	109.6	France	393.2	357.4	10%
-7%	46.9	43.4	Spain	164.7	182.0	-9%
6%	23.2	24.5	Brazil	73.3	86.0	-15%
-6%	42.0	39.3	Global Markets	145.8	164.1	-11%
			EBITDA - segments
6%	49.7	52.9	France	190.9	191.3	0%
-19%	16.4	13.3	Spain	52.6	60.5	-13%
-56%	4.8	2.1	Brazil	12.9	6.0	>100 %
-210%	1.2	(1.3)	Global Markets	8.6	15.7	-45%
			Cash flow
-44%	26.5	14.9	Net cash flow from operating activities	104.7	134.1	-22%

Invitation to the presentation of the Q4 2020 results

You are cordially invited to participate in the presentation of Adevinta ASA’s Q4 2020 report on Thursday 11 February 2021.

Quarterly Earnings Release

Time: 11 February 2021 at 07:00 CET

Report for the fourth quarter 2021, presentation materials, and spreadsheet with key figures and analytical information are available on the investor relations pages at https://www.adevinta.com/ir

Presentation of the Quarterly Results

Time: 11 February 2021 at 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 www.adevinta.com/ir and on this link: Q4 2020 Results Live Webcast.

Participants are also invited to ask questions using the dial-in numbers below.

Dial-in details:

Norway: +47 21 56 33 18
UK: +44  33 0551 0200
USA: +1 212 999 6659
France:  +33 1 7037 7166

Password: adevinta q4

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

-End-

Media contacts
Mélodie Laroche
Head of Corporate Communications
T: +33 (0) 6 84 30 52 76
melodie.laroche@adevinta.com

IR contact
Marie de Scorbiac
Head of Investor Relations
ir@adevinta.com

Edelman Smithfield
Adevinta@edelman.com

About Adevinta
Adevinta is a global online classifieds specialist, operating digital marketplaces in 12 countries. The company provides technology-based services to connect buyers with sellers and to facilitate transactions, from job offers to real estate, cars, consumer goods and more. Adevinta’s portfolio includes more than 30 digital products and websites, attracting 1.3 billion average monthly visits. Leading brands include top-ranked leboncoin in France, InfoJobs and Milanuncios in Spain, and 50% of fast-growing OLX Brazil. Adevinta spun off from Schibsted ASA and publicly listed in Oslo, Norway in 2019. Adevinta is majority owned by Schibsted ASA and employs 4,700 people committed to supporting users and customers daily. Find out more at Adevinta.com.

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¹Proportionate basis incl JVs
For definition of EBITDA please see section Definitions and reconciliations. Adevinta implemented IFRS 16 from 1 January 2019.

Attachments

• 20210211 - Adevinta Q4 2020 Results presentation
• Adevinta-financials-and-analytical-info - Q4 2020
• 20210211 - Adevinta Q4 2020 interim report