Schibsted's sales outlook not threatened by Facebook launch -CFO (updated)
15/08/2017 15:00
(Adds quotes, analyst, background)
By Camilla Knudsen
OSLO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Facebook's FB.O launch of its
Marketplace e-commerce service in 17 European countries this
week hit the shares of classified adds group Schibsted
SBSTA.OL on Tuesday, but the Norwegian company said it was
unlikely to affect its sales outlook.
Shares in Schibsted, which has online market sites in 22
countries, fell as much as 10 percent in early trading after
Facebook said it would expand its service for connecting local
buyers and sellers. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1L046G urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1L13PH
"This is an expected development, it will not change our
strategy," Chief Financial Officer Trond Berger told Reuters.
Schibsted holds market-leading positions in local classified
advertising websites across Europe including Norway's Finn and
France's Leboncoin, and also has fast-growing operations in
Asia, Africa and the Americas.
"Facebook's Marketplace has shown little effect on
(competitors') growth in the markets it has launched in the
past," Berger said.
Schibsted's biggest classified revenue streams come from
services such as job adverts, car sales and real estate sales,
and less from person-to-person trade in smaller items.
"The generalist market means less to us income-wise, so we
are not particularly concerned about our revenue flows," the CFO
said. He also said he did not expect an increase in costs to
keep up with competition from the social network giant.
Schibsted shares recovered some of their early losses and
were down 5 percent at 1316 GMT.
Analysts highlighted the rise in competition and worries
over costs.
"Overall, increased competition is negative, but the
generalist market is only a minor part of Schibsted's revenues,"
Danske Bank Markets analyst Martin Stenshall said.
"I think investors worry that Schibsted's response could be
to invest even more into its online classifieds to defend its
position," he added.
Anders Skoe, chief executive of Schibsted's Norwegian
service Finn said Facebook's entry was more likely to expand
overall demand than to cannibalise existing players.
About four percent of Finn's revenues comes from the
so-called the generalist market, Skoe said.
Facebook's Marketplace is being introduced this week in
Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Launched 10 months ago, Marketplace charges no fees to
buyers or sellers and aims to make it easy for users to trade
mostly second-hand goods.
(Editing by Terje Solsvik and Jane Merriman)
((camilla.knudsen@thomsonreuters.com; +47 2331 6595; Reuters
Messaging: camilla.knudsen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE/EUROPE SCHIBSTED