Monthly Comparison of Listed Property Portal Stocks (August 2008)
September 2, 2008 by Simon Baker
Each month I will publish analysis of the listed property portal companies around the world. The analysis will look at the month on month share price performance, the overall changes versus 12 month share price highs and lows, and the implied EBITDA, Revenue and Net Profit multiples.
To date, the known listed property portal companies are:
Move Inc, NASDAQ: MOVE
Loopnet, NASDAQ: LOOP
Rightmove Plc, LON: RMV
REA Group, ASX: REA (Overview)
Seloger, EPA: SLG
Entreparticuliers, EPA: ALENT
IPGA, ASX: IPP
HouseValues, NASDAQ: SOLD
This article covers monthly share price movements, movement in market cap, share price comparison to 52 week highs and lows, and revenue, ebitda and net profit multiples.
Month on Month Share Price Movement
Over the last month, most listed property portal companies have experienced an increase in their share price.
| Company | Currency | 31/07/2008 Share Price | 31/08/2008 Share Price | Share Price Movement |
| Rightmove | GBP | £2.970 | £3.090 | 4.0% |
| REA | $A | $3.86 | $5.00 | 29.5% |
| Seloger | Euro | € 15.52 | € 17.57 | 13.2% |
| Move | US$ | $2.33 | $2.70 | 15.9% |
| Loopnet | US$ | $11.36 | $10.66 | -6.2% |
| HouseValues | US$ | $2.86 | $2.82 | -1.4% |
| Entreparticuliers | Euro | € 9.50 | € 9.90 | 4.2% |
| IPGA | $A | $0.125 | $0.14 | 12.0% |
The drivers of these share price movements are most likely to be:
Rightmove (UK) – Announced its half year results in late August and this didnt really have an effect on the share price as the strong financial result was offset by concern about the future prospects in the UK housing market and the likely exit of estate agents from the market.
REA Group (Aust) – Announced it full year results and these were very strong with year on year revenue growth of 45% and year on year profit growth being 52%. What was more impressive was the performance in the second half of the year where the EBITDA margin was 27% compared with 20% in the first half of the year (Click here for separate analysis). During the month the REA Group also announced that Simon Baker, the long time CEO, would be replaced by Greg Ellis (Click here for announcement).
Move (USA) – Annouced its quarterly results that we consistent with the last 4 quarters and showed little progress in the turn around of the business. The good news that helped spike the share price was the promise to dispose of the Welcome Wagon Business.
Movement in Market Cap (Currency Movement Adjusted)
The table below shows the movement in the market cap of the listed companies (in US $) and this has been adjusted for the movements in currencies over the last month.
| 31/07/2008 | 31/08/2008 | US $ Market Cap Movement | ||||
| Company | Currency | Market Cap Local (m) | Market Cap in US$ (m) | Market Cap Local (m) | Market Cap in US$ (m) | |
| Rightmove | GBP | £362 | $719 | £377 | $686 | -4.6% |
| REA | $A | $491 | $463 | $636 | $545 | 17.7% |
| Seloger | Euro | € 258 | $403 | € 293 | $429 | 6.5% |
| Move | US$ | $354 | $354 | $410 | $410 | 15.9% |
| Loopnet | US$ | $406 | $406 | $381 | $381 | -6.2% |
| HouseValues | US$ | $69 | $69 | $68 | $68 | -1.4% |
| Entreparticuliers | Euro | € 33 | $52 | € 35 | $51 | -2.0% |
| IPGA | $A | $13 | $12 | $14 | $12 | 1.8% |
The five large listed stocks are Rightmove, the REA Group, Seloger, Move and Loopnet. Of these, the REA Group and Move increased their market cap considerably over the month.
Share Price Comparison to 52 Week High / Low
The table below shows the current share price compared to the 52 week high and low.
| 52 Week High | 52 Week Low | |||||
| Company | Currency | 31/08/2008 Share Price | Share Price | Share Price Movement | Share Price | Share Price Movement |
| Rightmove | GBP | £3.090 | £6.345 | -51.3% | £2.128 | 45.2% |
| REA | $A | $5.00 | $7.49 | -33.2% | $3.63 | 37.7% |
| Seloger | Euro | € 17.57 | € 48.99 | -64.1% | € 11.00 | 59.7% |
| Move | US$ | $2.70 | $3.47 | -22.2% | $1.62 | 66.7% |
| Loopnet | US$ | $10.66 | $23.90 | -55.4% | $9.25 | 15.2% |
| HouseValues | US$ | $2.82 | $4.22 | -33.2% | $2.26 | 24.8% |
| Entreparticuliers | Euro | € 9.90 | € 21.80 | -54.6% | € 8.52 | 16.2% |
| IPGA | $A | $0.14 | $0.31 | -54.8% | $0.10 | 40.0% |
The following observations can be made:
- Rightmove, Seloger and Loopnet (from the big 5) are all off significant from their 12 month highs while the REA Group and Move are less so.
- The REA Group has been less hit in its decrease from its 12 month high most likely due to their multi-country approach and the development of growth options in other countries.
- Move has been under performing the group for a long time due to its consistently break even status and investors most likely in a wait and see mode.
- All companies, except Loopnet, are up significantly from their 12 month lows most likely due to the ongoing strong performance of these businesses and the emerging realisation that the online marketing models of very robust in the current troubled economic markets.
Revenue, EBITDA and Net Profit Multiples
The table below compares the revenue, EBITDA and net profit multiples of all listed companies based on the most recent financial performance information. All companies, with the exception of Entreparticuliers, have financial information up to the end of June 2008.
| 12 Months to 30 June 2008 | |||||||
| Company | Currency | REV (m) | REV x | EBITDA (m) | EBITDA x | NPAT (m) | NPAT x |
| Rightmove | GBP | £69 | 5.5 | £35 | 10.8 | £23 | 16.8 |
| REA | $A | $156 | 4.1 | $37 | 17.4 | $22 | 28.5 |
| Seloger | Euro | € 65 | 4.5 | € 33 | 8.7 | € 15 | 18.9 |
| Move | US$ | $268 | 1.5 | -$10 | -39.5 | -$10 | -40.8 |
| Loopnet | US$ | $81 | 4.7 | $30 | 12.6 | $21 | 18.3 |
| HouseValues | US$ | $47 | 1.4 | -$7 | -9.6 | -$13 | -5.2 |
| Entreparticuliers | Euro | € 13 | 2.7 | € 4 | 9.7 | € 3 | 12.4 |
| IPGA | $A | $1.9 | 7.5 | -$0.5 | -28.6 | -$0.4 | -39.8 |
The following observations can be made:
- Move, Housevalues and IPGA are all in loss making mode at the moment
- The REA Group EBITDA and NPAT multiples are all significantly higher than their peers and this probably reflects the market’s belief in the long term strategic direction of the business
- The Rightmove multiples are slightly lower than the peers probably relfecting the uncertainty of the UK housing market and its potential impact on estate agent numbers
Let me know what you think
Please note – these are the views of the author and are not meant to be construed as proper financial advice.
- Comparison of Listed Stocks (Sep 08)
In this month's financial comparison we can see that the down turn in the global market is having an impact on the listed property portal sites with their share prices down month on month. The companies with a the biggest decline were move.com, seloger.fr, rightmove.co.il and entreparticuliers.fr. Some of these sites hit 12 month lows. It should also be noted that the movement in currencies has impacted the REA Group as the Australian dollar falls against the US$. Finally, it should be noted that while the share prices decrease for these companies, the underlying fundamentals continue to improve as they are mostly market leaders and they continue to have revenue increases while maintain strong margins. Read on for more ......
- Comparison of Listed Stocks (Oct 08)
In this month's financial comparison we can see that the down turn in the global market continues to have financial impact on the listed property portal sites with their share prices. The companies with a the biggest decline were move.com, rightmove.co.uk, loopnet.com and entreparticuliers.fr. Some of these sites hit 12 month lows. One site to buck the trend was seloger.fr in France who recorded a 14% share price increase following the announcement of its financial performance for the first 9 months of the year. Finally, it should be noted that while the share prices decrease for these companies, the underlying fundamentals continue to improve as they are mostly market leaders and they continue to have revenue increases while maintain strong margins. Read on for more ......
- Top US Portals in July 2008 vs August 2007
When looking at the performance of property portal sites in a market, you often look at a point in time and try to draw some conclusions or you may look at two adjacent months. However to really get a feeling for movement in the consumer views of a market, it is more important to look at the movement over a longer period of time. The last 11 months has seen some interesting movements in the US Residential Property Portal Market - read on to find out more....
- Traffic to UK Property Portal Sites (Aug 2008)
The ComScore roperasdnumbers are out for August 2008 and all sites are down month on month and more importantly year on year. rightmove.co.uk continues to be the stand out leader in the market with 2.4m UV's with findaproperty.co.uk in second place and propertyfinder.com in 3rd place. However, a couple of trends are emerging. Firstly, even through the overall market for online UK property search is down, rightmove is down more than the market. The second, more interesting trend is the rise of the young turks - headed by nestoria.co.uk. Read on for more ... ...
- Traffic to UK Property Portal Sites (July 2008)
The July 2008 ComScore numbers for Unique Visitors to UK property portal sites shows that rightmove.co.uk continues to be the most popular site in the UK as it has been for many a year. However how well are the other sites stacking up? Read on for more ... ...
Loading ...
Interesting to keep an eye on how the top property portals are coping with the current economic climate.
I would expect that these giants are struggling to find the numbers they need to meet targets. Some have moved into the Overseas Property space, which will help gain some revenue.
I also think that these sites dont move with the market quick enough and tend to rely more on brand and presence, but dont offer feature rich technology for an ever savvier marketplace.