Better for Schibsted after the sale and cost cutting

– Operationally, we delivered a result in line with expectations, states CEO Christian Printzell Halvorsen in a stock exchange announcement.

The figures apply to Schibsted Marketplaces – which is the part of the old Schibsted group that remains following the sale of the news media. Marketplaces consist of, among others, Finn.no and Helthjem, while Schibsted News Media owns newspapers and other media companies, and is no longer listed on the stock exchange.

First accounts as a purely classified company

The accounts for the second quarter are the first to be delivered following Schibsted spun off the media business, and following CEO Christian Printzell Halvorsen took over from Kristin Skogen Lund in May.

– After selling Schibsted Media, we are now in a position to take decisive action to improve profitability as a more concentrated company, says Printzell Halvorsen.

Operating profit fell from 357 million in the second quarter of last year to 218 million in the second quarter of this year. Profit before tax thus ended at 186 million – compared to 3 million at the same time in 2023.

The company also had an operating result before depreciation and amortization (ebitda) of NOK 546 million, an increase of 1 percent compared to last year.

Operating income ended at NOK 2.52 billion, down from NOK 2.45 billion in the same period last year. Turnover increased by 3 per cent to NOK 2.5 billion in total.

Weaker for Lendo and Prisjakt

The marketplaces alone increased turnover by 7 per cent to NOK 1.5 billion compared to last year, while the “Growth and Investments” division, for its part, had a drop in turnover of 13 per cent.

This is due to much lower demand on the loan platform Lendo and the price comparison service Prisjakt.

At the end of June, Schibsted Marketplace announced downsizing, where the company will cut around 250 positions in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.