EQS-News: New Work SE reaffirms forecast amid a challenging market environment

New Work SE reaffirms forecast amid a challenging market environment
 

• kununu no. 1 for salary data in German-speaking countries
• Significant investments to reposition XING
• Restructuring largely completed

 
Hamburg, 7 May 2024 – New Work SE, the parent company of the brands XING and kununu, today presents its results for the first quarter of 2024. The figures portray a company continuing to make strides in implementing its new strategy amid a challenging economic environment.
 
Revenues in the HR Solutions & Talent Access segment fell by 6 per cent to €50.4 million (Q1 2023: €53.3 million). This is mainly due to the decline in job ad postings, in turn resulting from the German economy’s current recession. The B2C segment, as expected, fell by 18 per cent to €15.9 million (Q1 2023: €19.5 million). This is due to the company’s strategic shift and full focus on monetisation from its HR Solutions segment. Revenues in the smallest segment, B2B Marketing Solutions, declined by 36 per cent to €2.0 million (Q1 2023: €3.1 million). Consequently, total revenues were ten per cent lower than those of the previous year’s quarter (€68.2 million in Q1 2024 compared to €75.9 million in Q1 2023).
 
Despite the extremely difficult employment market environment, New Work SE continued to invest in implementing its strategy in the first quarter of this year. To this end, XING launched its largest-ever advertising campaign, and the brand is now the main sponsor of the recently founded Baller League to reach and appeal to new, younger target audiences. kununu, the leading platform for employer reviews in German-speaking countries, has continued to invest in its growth strategy with a regional campaign in the most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. These investments are tangible in the restructuring-cost-adjusted pro forma EBITDA, which, as a result, is down 50 per cent at €9 million compared to the previous year (Q1 2023: €17.9 million). Consequently, adjusted pro forma consolidated profit fell by 87 per cent to €1.1 million euros (Q1 2023: €8.4 million).
 
Petra von Strombeck, CEO at New Work SE, said: "We’re in the midst of restructuring the company. XING is becoming a jobs network, with monetisation largely coming from our HR Solutions segment. However, repositioning one of Germany's best-known online brands won’t happen overnight and requires significant investments, many of which we’ve already pushed through in the first quarter. By doing so, we’re positioning XING as a network primarily geared towards jobs and reaching new audiences. And kununu has made a successful and visible impact in western Germany in the first quarter to further accelerate the brand's growth."
 
Continued growth of kununu’s Workplace Insights, increasing by 28 per cent to 11.2 million in the first quarter of 2024, means the brand has not only extended its market leadership in German-speaking countries overall, but now also leads the way there when it comes salary data with 4 million data points. This strong growth in data points ensures not only a high volume but also, thanks to its currency, provides high-quality current insights.
 
Meanwhile, XING’s transformation into a jobs network continues with several changes in Q1 2024 resulting in positive changes to measurable KPIs. Recruiter profile visibility received a boost, reflected by a 200 per cent increase in visits to recruiter profiles. Additionally, millions of XING users have already set their individual job preferences in the newly designed Job Preferences section, which helps them with better-matching job offers. This was accompanied by XING’s marketing campaign at the start of the year which led to excellent brand recall, product use and reach – especially from the online video spots.
 
The planned comprehensive restructuring measures have been largely completed ahead of schedule. 85 per cent of the planned cost savings have already been achieved, although the full effects of the savings will not be achieved until 2025.
 
Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, New Work SE reaffirms its forecast adjusted in January 2024. The company expects a pro forma EBITDA in the range of €55-65 million.

About New Work SE
The New Work SE Group strives towards a better working world. With strong brands such as XING, kununu and onlyfy by XING, and the largest talent pool in German-speaking countries, it claims the spot of recruiting partner Nr. 1 in these countries. By bringing candidates and companies together, it guides talents to a more fulfilling working life while simultaneously helping companies to greater success by winning the right talent. The Group has been listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange since 2006, has its headquarters in Hamburg and currently employs around 1,500 people at offices including Berlin, Vienna and Porto. Visit new-work.se and nwx.new-work.se for more information.