Schibsted ASA (SCHA/SCHB) - Interim Financial Statement Q4 2018

 Today, Schibsted Media Group released its Q4 2018 report. The revenue grew 6 percent to NOK 4,742 million, whereas the EBITDA grew 29 percent to NOK 897 million.

"After onboarding Schibsted at the beginning of December 2018, I am proud and happy to be able to present a strong set of Q4 results. An EBITDA of NOK 897 million is our highest quarterly profit ever, and it is 29 percent higher than in the same period in 2017," CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

"The improved profitability was driven by both our Marketplaces operations, where revenue and margins continued to grow well, and our Publishing operations, where the revenue grew in combination with good cost control," CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

"Within Marketplaces, our French operation delivered solid revenue growth in Q4 combined with margin improvement. At the same time, the operations in Norway and Spain continued their strong development. Sweden is still on the soft side, but we see an improved trajectory in underlying KPIs. Across many of our operations, we see strong growth in revenue from the verticals, whereas display advertising shows weaker trends," CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

"Once again we continued to reduce our investment phase losses, even though OLX in Brazil concentrated a large part of their annual marketing spend in Q4. The cost reduction in Shpock has continued, as we have communicated earlier," CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

"When it comes to Publishing, I am impressed by the Q4 achievement, with improved profitability, supported by strong growth in digital subscription revenue and digital advertising sales. The foundation of this positive development is the high standards of quality and relevance which guide our editorial teams. Also in Q4, we have been able to set the public agenda both in Norway and Sweden on several occasions," CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.

"The operations in Schibsted Growth had a soft development in terms of revenue and profits in Q4. The successful loan comparison site, Lendo, continues to be a key growth driver in this segment though partly curbed by the Norwegian market due to new regulatory initiatives. Lendo has been expanded into the Danish market, and we believe it is possible to repeat Lendo's success both here and in other geographies," CEO Kristin Skogen Lund says.