PropertyGuru Group Limited (NYSE: PGRU) (“PropertyGuru” or the “Company”), Southeast Asia’s leading[1] property technology (“PropTech”) company, today announced financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2022. Revenue of S$40 million in the fourth quarter 2022 increased 17% year over year. Net loss was S$5 million in the fourth quarter and Adjusted EBITDA[2] was a positive S$5 million. This compares to a net loss of S$27 million[3] and Adjusted EBITDA loss of S$4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Management Commentary
Hari V. Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, said “We are pleased with our results, as PropertyGuru performed well in the face of several transitory challenges that continue to impact our core markets. While rising interest rates and government credit intervention weighed on market activity, we remained resilient and delivered good growth by helping our customers navigate the challenges they faced and confirming the value add of our solutions in all phases of the real estate cycle.”
“Last year was a historic year for PropertyGuru, as we took the next step in our company’s evolution by listing on the NYSE. Going forward, we see great opportunity in 2023 and beyond as we continue to offer our customers differentiated solutions while looking to opportunistically deploy capital to accelerate the Company’s ongoing expansion. Sendhelper is a good example of a strategic acquisition we are excited about given the value it creates for our large audience base, and the underlying synergies between the companies,” Mr. Krishnan continued. “Rising rates, global inflation, and governmental fiscal activity are challenges that will need to be navigated in the near-term. We remain bullish on our ability to deliver value to our customers as we digitize the property ecosystem and bring transparency and efficiency. We believe that our markets in Southeast Asia will be at the forefront of future global growth.”
Joe Dische, Chief Financial Officer, added “PropertyGuru delivered strong 35% revenue growth in 2022[4], with all our segments performing well despite challenging operating conditions. We are pleased with how well our business responded, with proactive cost control actions contributing to a S$25 million year over year improvement in Adjusted EBITDA. Our actions in 2022 have laid the foundation for further revenue growth and improvements in operating performance. We continue to scale the business, accelerate the realization of our investments, and leverage the deployment of further growth capital.”
Financial Highlights – Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022
- Total revenue increased 17% to S$40 million in the fourth quarter as compared to the previous year and increased 35% to S$136 million year over year.
- Marketplaces revenues increased 15% to S$38 million in the fourth quarter as compared to the previous year and increased 34% to S$131 million year over year, as continued strength in Singapore and Malaysia offset challenges in the Vietnam market due to credit restrictions in the latter part of the year.
- Singapore Marketplaces revenue increased 15% to S$19 million in the fourth quarter as compared to the previous year and increased 24% to $69 million year over year as a result of both increased Average Revenue Per Agent (“ARPA”) and an increase in overall agents. Quarterly ARPA was up 20% in the fourth quarter to S$1,076 as compared to the previous year and up 24% year over year to S$4,078 in 2022. In the fourth quarter, there were 15,529 agents with a renewal rate of 79% in the quarter.
- Malaysia Marketplaces revenue increased 28% to S$8 million in the fourth quarter as compared to the previous year and increased 77% to $25 million year over year, as the Company continues to leverage our two market leading brands and benefit from the acquisition of the iProperty business in August 2021.
- Vietnam Marketplaces revenue decreased 7% to S$6 million in the fourth quarter as compared to the previous year and increased 28% to S$24 million year over year, as governmental actions to tighten credit impacted the overall number of listings in the market. The number of listings was down 22% to 1.6 million in the fourth quarter as compared to the prior year quarter. The average revenue per listing (“ARPL”) was up 22% to S$25 in the fourth quarter as compared to the prior year quarter and up 8% to S$2.97 year over year.
- At year-end, cash and cash equivalents was S$309 million.
Information regarding our operating segments is presented below.
| | For the Three Months Ended December 31 | |
| | 2022 | | 2021 | | YoY Growth | |
| | (S$ in thousands except percentages) | |
| | | | | | | |
Revenue | 40,097 | | 34,329 | | 16.8% | |
Marketplaces | 38,350 | | 33,299 | | 15.2% | |
| Singapore | 18,805 | | 16,382 | | 14.8% | |
| Vietnam | 5,870 | | 6,304 | | -6.9% | |
| Malaysia | 7,531 | | 5,888 | | 27.9% | |
| Other Asia | 6,144 | | 4,725 | | 30.0% | |
Fintech and data services | 1,747 | | 1,030 | | 69.6% | |
Adjusted EBITDA | 4,829 | | (4,149) | | | |
Marketplaces | 18,240 | | 6,321 | | | |
| Singapore | 11,441 | | 6,709 | | | |
| Vietnam | 722 | | 655 | | | |
| Malaysia | 3,429 | | (2,026) | | | |
| Other Asia | 2,648 | | 983 | | | |
Fintech and data services | (1,981) | | (1,546) | | | |
Corporate* | (11,430) | | (8,924) | | | |
| | | | | | |
Adjusted EBITDA Margin (%) | 12.0% | | -12.1% | | | |
Marketplaces | 47.6% | | 19.0% | | | |
| Singapore | 60.8% | | 41.0% | | | |
| Vietnam | 12.3% | | 10.4% | | | |
| Malaysia | 45.5% | | -34.4% | | | |
| Other Asia | 43.1% | | 20.8% | | | |
Fintech and data services | -113.4% | | -150.1% | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | For the Twelve Months Ended December 31 | |
| | 2022 | | 2021 | | YoY Growth | |
| | (S$ in thousands except percentages) | |
| | | | | | | |
Revenue | 135,925 | | 100,711 | | 35.0% | |
Marketplaces | 130,861 | | 97,334 | | 34.4% | |
| Singapore | 69,241 | | 55,891 | | 23.9% | |
| Vietnam | 24,040 | | 18,767 | | 28.1% | |
| Malaysia | 25,388 | | 14,315 | | 77.4% | |
| Other Asia | 12,192 | | 8,361 | | 45.8% | |
Fintech and data services | 5,064 | | 3,377 | | 50.0% | |
Adjusted EBITDA | 14,466 | | (10,372) | | | |
Marketplaces | 63,045 | | 23,746 | | | |
| Singapore | 47,626 | | 33,355 | | | |
| Vietnam | 5,470 | | 2,063 | | | |
| Malaysia | 10,208 | | (10,440) | | | |
| Other Asia | (259) | | (1,232) | | | |
Fintech and data services | (7,385) | | (4,634) | | | |
Corporate* | (41,194) | | (29,484) | | | |
Adjusted EBITDA Margin (%) | 10.6% | | -10.3% | | |
Marketplaces | 48.2% | | 24.4% | | | |
| Singapore | 68.8% | | 59.7% | | | |
| Vietnam | 22.8% | | 11.0% | | | |
| Malaysia | 40.2% | | -72.9% | | | |
| Other Asia | -2.1% | | -14.7% | | | |
Fintech and data services | -145.8% | | -137.2% | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
*Corporate consists of headquarters costs, which are not allocated to the segments. Headquarters costs are costs of PropertyGuru’s personnel that are based predominantly in its Singapore headquarters and certain key personnel in Malaysia and Thailand, and that service PropertyGuru’s group as a whole, consisting of its executive officers and its group marketing, technology, product, human resources, finance and operations teams, as well as platform IT costs (hosting, licensing, domain fees), workplace facilities costs, corporate public relations retainer costs and professional fees such as audit, legal and consultant fees. Certain elements of marketing expenses previously allocated to Corporate in the first quarter 2022 have since been moved to business segments in line with changes to internal reporting lines.
Strong Category Leadership Drives Long-Term Growth Opportunities
As of December 31, 2022, PropertyGuru continued its Engagement Market Share[5] leadership in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Singapore: 81 % – 5.2x the closest peer Thailand: 58% – 2.5x the closest peer
Vietnam: 75% – 3.1x the closest peer Indonesia: 22% – 0.3x the closest peer
Malaysia: 93% – 15.2x the closest peer
Full Year 2023 Outlook
The Company anticipates full year 2023 revenues of between S$160 million and S$170 million and Adjusted EBITDA of between S$11 million and S$15 million. In the near-term, the integration and scaling of the Sendhelper acquisition is expected to negatively impact profitability by S$3 million to S$4 million in 2023. Beginning in the first quarter of 2023, the Company will no longer remove the ongoing cost of being a listed entity when calculating Adjusted EBITDA. For 2023, the Company anticipates that such costs will be between S$11 million to S$12 million. For 2022, such costs were S$11 million, and on this basis the Company’s full year 2022 Adjusted EBITDA would be S$3 million.
The following short-term factors may continue to impact the Company’s operations and warrant a conservative outlook in 2023: actions by the government of Vietnam to rein in the availability of consumer credit, residual political uncertainty in Malaysia, tightened residential policies in Singapore, a lack of clarity in global fiscal policy stemming from rising interest rates, greater inflationary pressures, and global supply chain issues. Longer-term, the Company remains bullish on its growth trajectory, prospects for improving profitability, and the fundamental opportunity that exists in our core markets.
Conference Call and Webcast Details
The Company will host a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time / 9:00 p.m. Singapore Standard Time to discuss the Company’s financial results and outlook. The PropertyGuru (NYSE: PGRU) Q4 2022 Earnings call can be accessed by registering at:
https://propertyguru.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KYdeZj7TQzW-8UifD2sWAQ
An archived version will be available on the Company’s Investor Relations website after the call at https://investors.propertygurugroup.com/news-and-events/events-and-presentations/default.aspx
[1] Based on SimilarWeb data between July 2022 and December 2022.
[2] Included in the S$10 million of adjustments between net loss and Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2022 was a S$5 million depreciation and amortization expense.
[3] Included in the S$23 million of adjustments between net loss and Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2021 were a S$5 million depreciation and amortization expense, a S$7 million share grant and option expense, and S$7 million in business acquisition transaction and integration costs.
4 The full year ended December 31, 2022 includes results of the iProperty Malaysia and thinkofliving businesses which were acquired on August 3, 2021
.
[5] Based on SimilarWeb data between July 2022 and December 2022.
