Baltic Classifieds H1 revenues grow

Online classifieds business Baltic Classifieds said on Wednesday that it has continued to build on the momentum seen in the previous trading year, with both interim revenue and underlying earnings growing.

Revenue grew 20% to €35.8m, while core classifieds revenue streams of B2C and C2C grew 25% and 19%, respectively.

Underlying earnings were up 22% at €27.8m and EBITDA margins expanded to 78% from 77%. Adjusted basic EPS grew 22% to EUR 4.6 cents, while basic EPS for the period grew to EUR 3.1 cents.

The London-listed group also noted that cash generated from operating activities grew 21% to €29.1min the half, with cash conversion maintained at 99%.

Baltic Classified also declared an interim dividend of EUR 1.0 cent, up 25% year-on-year, and highlighted that it had reduced gross debt by €15.0m in the reporting period.

"Business customer numbers remained strong, while individual advertising volumes achieved record highs on all major platforms," added the group.

As of 0955 GMT, Baltic shares were up 2.41% at 212.50p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com