Schibsted increased sales in the third quarter

Global Courant

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Schibsted CEO Kristin Skogen Lund does not hide the fact that the third quarter was characterized by a challenging macroeconomic environment, but says that the media group has managed to maneuver well in a difficult market.

The media group reports revenues of NOK 3.85 billion, an increase of three percent compared to the same quarter last year. It matches analyst estimates.

The growth is driven by strong revenue growth for Scandinavian marketplaces, including Finn.no and Swedish Blocket.

News media revenue decreased by one percent compared to the previous year’s quarter, reaching NOK 1.8 billion. Schibsted reports a still demanding advertising market, but points to some improvement compared to the previous quarter.

Schibsted’s operating profit amounted to NOK 420 million, up from NOK 342 million last year.

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Pre-tax profit was NOK 14.5 billion. Last year the result was several billion in the red due to a write-down of the group interest in Adevinta. The reason for the strong improvement this year includes a reversal of the NOK 13 billion write-down on Adevinta to reflect its market value at the end of the quarter. Adevinta shares rose almost 50 percent in the third quarter.

Schibsted is the second-largest shareholder of the listed advertising company, which was recently the subject of discussions about a non-binding offer from a US investor group.

Repeats Adevinta calls

Schibsted announced earlier this year that there will be an update on share ownership following today’s third quarter results. In today’s report, Schibsted reiterates information provided earlier this fall, but says he is unable to provide further information about a possible offer.

Bloomberg wrote this weekend that the investor group, led by Blackstone and Permira, is reconsidering plans for a bid for Adevinta. The news agency referred to sources with knowledge of the matter and wrote that the companies involved will now discuss whether they want to continue with the offer. Disappointing market prospects in the period after the offer was announced must be one of the reasons why the takeover no longer seems so attractive, Bloomberg writes. There may also be no agreement about the price.

On Wednesday, Schibsted wrote that the talks were still ongoing.

– At this time we cannot provide more information and will come back with more information if necessary. We are enthusiastic about a potential transaction, but emphasize that discussions are still ongoing and there are no guarantees that a transaction will occur, says Skogen Lund.

Rise in the stock market

Schibsted shares are up 15 and 20 percent on the Oslo Stock Exchange so far this year, despite challenging market conditions. For the news media, cost savings of half a billion kroner were announced in early 2023 due to higher prices and a clear decline in advertising revenue.

In the second quarter, the result was slightly better than expected, a quarter that CEO Skogen Lund described as “solid, taking into account the macroeconomic situation”.(Conditions)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases via links that lead directly to our pages. Copying or other use of all or part of the contents may only be made with written permission or as permitted by law. For further conditions see here.

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Published: 02.03.21 — 01:00

Schibsted increased sales in the third quarter

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