WE HAVE MADE IT EVEN MORE EFFICIENT TO ADVERTISE YOUR HOME ON HEMNET We want to give home sellers the best possible conditions for a smooth property transaction by maximising exposure on Sweden’s largest housing platform, in an efficient way reaching virtually all those interested in real estate in Sweden. During the year, we have made several improvements of our value-added services to home sellers. We have made Hemnet Plus and Premium ads evenmore visible, built up a smoother purchasing flow, addedmore data on the running performance of listings onHemnet and simplified for real estate agents to recommend our various products to their customers. This has jointly contributed to our value-added services for home sellers increasing in popularity and at the end of the year, more than every third listing on Hemnet was upgraded to one of our expanded packages. INCREASED INVESTMENT IN OUR PRODUCT OFFERING TO REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND OTHER PARTNERS Hemnet’s success is based on strong relationships with the estate agent industry, property developers, banks and other companies close to the housing business. We want to offer these players the best opportunities to build their brands and business by reaching Hemnet’s audience. It is gratifying to see that virtually all major players in these categories are investing more in our various subscription and advertising products, and we see great potential for Hemnet to be able to add even more value and increased business opportunities to this target group. In 2022 we will therefore accelerate our investments and develop even more effective products for our business partners. WE STRENGTHEN OUR EMPLOYER BRAND AND IMPROVE OUR SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS When I started at Hemnet, it was clear tome that Hemnet offered a great service and was a well-known brand, but that the company was relatively unknown as an employer. Hemnet’s development is entirely dependent on our ability to attract newmembers to our teams. We are constantly refining our offer to our employees and we strive to be an inclusive and gender-equal workplace with a strong and values-driven culture where people with different experiences and backgrounds thrive. Throughout the year, we have been pleased to see that our efforts are also being noted by the world outside of Hemnet. In September, the Allbright Foundation named Hemnet as one of the three most gender-equal companies on the stock exchange, and when the people analytics company Nyckeltalsinstitutet surveys equal working conditions for men and women in Swedish working life, Hemnet qualifies within the top ten percent of employers in the country. We have come a long way in four years, but we continue our efforts to become the best employer possible. As Hemnet grows, sustainability issues become increasingly important for us. During the year, we have therefore reviewed our sustainability efforts with a clearer framework for how we work with and report on our impact on the world around us. You can read more about the result of this work on page 18. WE ARE AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR JOURNEY I want to thank the Hemnet team for a fantastic and intense year. Together, we have made Sweden’s largest housing platform even better, and laid the foundation for our continued journey. We look forward to taking new steps in the new year together with our employees, customers and partners to create an even more transparent, efficient and mobile housing market.
2021 has been a unique and eventful year for Hemnet during which we have taken many significant and important steps as a company. We have improved our users’ experience and launched a number of updates to our offering, implemented important updates to our business model, strengthened our employer brand, updated our sustainability efforts and completed a successful IPO. EXCEPTIONAL GROWTH IN 2021 2021 is our most successful year so far. Net sales amounted to SEK 728.1 million (SEK 544.1 million), which is an increase of 33.8 percent compared to 2020. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to SEK 355.0 million, compared to SEK 202.1 million in the previous year, an increase of 75.7 percent. The main factor behind these results is a strong growth in the average revenue per property listing, ARPL, which has increased from SEK 1,760 to SEK 2,467. The increase is explained by the fact that we have enhanced the value of our products leading to more home sellers choosing to upgrade their listing on Hemnet and that we have implemented a segmented pricing of our basic offering, Hemnet Bas. The performance was also driven by an update in our compensation model for real estate agent offices at the beginning of the year. Net sales from property sellers were also positively affected by a very active housing market. Sweden has a stable housing market driven by consumer mobility rather than by speculation and cyclical fluctuations. This means that, historically, the volume of homes for sale has had a stable development from year to year. In the wake of Covid-19 and the fact that the pandemic has contributed to an increased interest in the home, we have seen a more active housing market than usual. This has been reflected in record traffic to Hemnet and higher listing volumes than normal during parts of the year. In total, we had 4.8 percent more listings on our platforms in 2021 compared to 2020. THE FIRST CHOICE FOR ANYONE LOOKING FOR A HOME IN SWEDEN Hemnet is the first choice for those looking for a new home in Sweden. This is also the reason for our high traffic during the year, with an average of over 60 million visits to our various platforms each month. Our strong position was also evident when the market research company YouGov ranked Sweden’s biggest brands in terms of image, with Hemnet ending up in the top five of the country’s media brands. We will maintain and extend our position by continuing to deliver added value to our visitors. We want to create a more tailored experience and transparently share market data with consumers to help them take the next step in their housing journey, while at the same time contributing to increased mobility in the housing market. For example, we added more information about the price development of homes for sale during the past year. We have also improved the logged-in experience and made it easier to save property listings and previous searches. We see great opportunities in an increased personalisation and want to give consumers more reasons to visit Hemnet, also when they are not actively looking to buy or sell a home.
Cecilia Beck-Friis , CEO, Hemnet
CEO REPORT
HEMNET GROUP | ANNUAL AND SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2021 · 5
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