Scout24 (ETR:G24) reported preliminary full-year 2025 results that management described as another “great year,” highlighting double-digit growth across revenue, earnings, and cash flow alongside continued investment in AI and platform connectivity. On the call, CEO Ralf Weitz and CFO Dirk Schmelzer emphasized that growth was driven primarily by the company’s B2B and B2C subscription businesses, while profitability improved through operating leverage and technology-driven efficiencies.
Full-year results: revenue up 15% and margin expansion
Scout24 said 2025 revenue rose 15% to EUR 649.6 million. Ordinary operating EBITDA increased 16.5% to EUR 405.7 million, with the ordinary operating EBITDA margin expanding by 100 basis points to 62.5%. Adjusted EPS rose 19.6% to EUR 3.47, while basic EPS increased to EUR 3.33 on net income of EUR 240 million.
Cash generation remained a key theme. Operating cash flow rose 11% to EUR 284.8 million, and free cash flow increased 13% to EUR 253.1 million. The company said free cash flow conversion was 101% of adjusted net income and 62% of ordinary operating EBITDA.
Segment performance: professional and private both deliver double-digit growth
In the professional segment, Scout24 reported 2025 revenue of EUR 470.5 million, up 14.8%, driven by subscription growth of 15.4%. Average customers increased 5.7% to 26,027, and the company ended the year with 26,400 professional customers. ARPU increased 9.5% for the full year and “accelerated further in Q4,” Schmelzer said.
Management said it completed over 5,000 migrations to its new membership model, bringing adoption to around 60% of the base, with particularly strong growth in the Bronze tier. Transaction enablement revenue rose 17.5%, supported by CRM expansion and M&A contributions, while overall lead demand was described as “muted.” Homeowner lead products grew 9% in 2025.
Professional ordinary operating EBITDA rose 14.5% to EUR 292.9 million, with a full-year margin of 62.3% and a Q4 margin of 63.4%. Management said acquisition-related dilution was offset by operational improvements.
In the private segment, revenue increased 14.5% to EUR 179 million, driven by subscription growth of 18.8% and strong PPA performance. The average customer base grew 14% year-over-year to about 507,000, while the company ended the year with 503.6 thousand subscribers. ARPU rose 4.2% for the year.
Weitz said private subscriber growth moderated in Q4 due to “normal year-end seasonality,” softer rental demand, and the rollout of a new group-wide ERP system. In Q&A, Schmelzer quantified the ERP impact, saying investors should “deduct around 2 percentage points in Q3 and put another 2 percentage points in Q4” for growth due to timing effects related to the order-to-cash module migration. He added that the migration was finished in Q4, with no spillover into Q1 2026.
Private ordinary operating EBITDA increased 22.3% to EUR 112.8 million, and the margin expanded by 4 percentage points to 63%. Schmelzer said there was “no reason” for private margins to deteriorate, noting the business has scaled from 30%–40% margins in the early product phase to “professional margins.”
Strategy and AI: interconnectivity, proprietary data, and search innovation
Weitz framed Scout24’s positioning as an ecosystem rather than “only a listing platform,” citing more than EUR 400 million invested over the past years in its interconnectivity strategy. He said more than 10% of residential units are registered in the company’s property hub, and around 25% of annual real estate transactions in Germany involve a Scout24 B2C subscription product.
Management highlighted the rollout of AI across the user journey, including semantic and “agentic” experiences through HeyImmo and an ImmoScout24 app integration in ChatGPT. Weitz stressed that referral traffic from external LLMs remained “insignificant,” at 0.4% in December and below last year’s peak levels.
On the OpenAI/ChatGPT app integration, Weitz said Scout24 does not pay for the app and described it as an “API wrapper” that lets users search Scout24’s listings database, while proprietary data remains “guarded behind lock and vaults.” He said users must complete actions such as contacting on listings within Scout24’s ecosystem.
Scout24 also emphasized its agent software platform Propstack, describing it as cloud-based and embedded in agent workflows. Weitz said more than 30,000 AI actions have been executed within workflows and cited “Voice to Listing” reducing listing creation time by over 80%. He estimated Propstack market share in Germany at around 30% and “growing,” with an ambition to transform the product toward “agentic AI” that actively drives workflows.
Market indicators and capital allocation
Weitz said Scout24’s Scout Transaction Momentum Index stood at 97, describing the residential transaction market as stabilized. Based on preliminary data, he said Germany recorded around 600,000 transactions in 2025, up 14% versus 2024. The company’s listings index reached 146 in January, while “approachable content” grew to 17 million objects.
On balance sheet and shareholder returns, Scout24 ended 2025 with net debt of EUR 144.5 million, a leverage ratio of 0.36x. The company returned capital through EUR 124.3 million of share buybacks and EUR 95.4 million of dividends in 2025. In Q&A, Schmelzer referenced a EUR 500 million buyback program announced in December and said the first EUR 100 million tranche began in early January, with roughly EUR 50 million already completed at the time of the call. He added management continued to discuss additional buyback programs and believes intrinsic value is higher than the current share price.
2026 outlook: higher growth with Spain contribution, margin expected “up to 61%”
For 2026, Scout24 guided to 16%–18% revenue growth and an ordinary operating EBITDA margin of up to 61%. Schmelzer said 6 to 7 percentage points of revenue growth are expected to come from Spain, reflecting roughly 10 months of contribution, with the company expecting to close the transaction “tomorrow.” Excluding Spain, Scout24 guided to an organic ordinary operating EBITDA margin of up to 64%.
Management said the implied margin contribution from Spain includes one-off transition-related costs such as TSA arrangements recorded in operating expenses, which are expected to unwind from 2027. Schmelzer also said Spain’s advertising revenue mix (around 10% of revenue) is expected to be reduced toward Germany’s level (below 2%), which he said could impact 2026 by about EUR 5 million–6 million.
The company also flagged phasing effects: B2B membership started 2026 strongly with lower churn, while B2C growth could be softer in Q1 as Scout24 tests new product tiering and pricing initiatives, with acceleration expected from Q2. Scout24’s next Capital Markets Day is scheduled for May 12, 2026, where it plans to provide updated midterm targets for 2027–2029 and higher margin ambition.
Schmelzer said the call was his final earnings call after more than six years as CFO, with Weitz thanking him for his contributions to margin expansion and cash generation.
About Scout24 (ETR:G24)
Scout24 SE operates ImmoScout24, a digital platform for the residential and commercial real estate sectors in Germany and internationally. The company offers Realtor Lead Engine and Immoverkauf24 products for selling real estate; Mortgage Lead Engine, a mortgage financing product under the pay-per-lead model; mortgage and real estate financing advisory services; FLOWFACT and Propstack, which are CRM software solutions for real estate agents; and TenantPlus that provides rental properties. In addition, it offers BuyerPlus for users looking to buy properties; LivingPlus provides coverage and support for tenant protection; and LettingPlus, a cloud-based software solution.
