XING continues to demonstrate robust growth in H1 2014

• Revenues increase by 16 percent to €47.1 million
• Growth rate in the Network/Premium core business continues to accelerate
• Highest growth in six years sees 456,000 new members in H1 of this year

Hamburg, August 6, 2014 – XING, the leading social network for business professionals in the German-speaking world (D-A-CH), has experienced further revenue growth in H1 of this year compared to the same period in the previous year. Total revenues rose by 16 percent to €47.1 million (previous year: €40.5 million). This means that XING has considerably increased its organic growth rate compared to H1 2013 (9 percent). The main drivers were the e-Recruiting and Network/Premium segments.

Growth rate in core business continues to accelerate
The complete revamping of offers for Premium members at the end of last year continues to bear fruit. Revenue growth in the Network/Premium core business accelerated again since the company’s realignment to reach €28.9 million – an increase of 9 percent – in H1 of this year (H1 2013: €26.6 million; +5%). In Q2, this segment achieved double-digit-percentage growth for the first time since 2011. The second major revenue driver for XING AG, the e-Recruiting segment, posted revenues of €14.5 million (H1 2013: €10.9 million). This corresponds to an increase of 34 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The Events segment grew by 15 percent to €2.8 million in H1 of this year (H1 2013: €2.4 million).
 

Thomas Vollmoeller, CEO of XING AG: “The repositioning of our company—a process that began last year—and the strategic development of our platform continue to fuel our growth. Focusing on members in German-speaking countries enables us to offer them products and services that are tailored to their specific requirements. The world of work is changing dramatically at the moment, which means that the need for support and orientation is constantly growing too. And this is exactly what we offer our members.”

Companies and working professionals in German-speaking countries are experiencing a period of upheaval in the world of work that is largely being driven by digitalization, a shortage of skilled personnel, and changing values. XING decision last year to reposition itself was a response to this upheaval. As the company’s slogan, “For a better working life”, suggests, XING no longer positions itself as just a career portal. Instead, it aims to help members better integrate their personal circumstances with their careers. XING ran a TV commercial campaign at the start of this year featuring the slogan “For everyone who works. And lives.” In addition, the company launched “XING spielraum” (

https://spielraum.xing.com/), a portal dedicated to the topic “new work” featuring reports, expert interviews, current studies, facts, figures, tips, and best practice.

XING’s strategic development is also reflected in the company’s range of products. One example is the continuing integration of kununu, the leading employer review portal in German-speaking countries. kununu gives XING members insights into the management style, collegiality, and work atmosphere in companies. Another example is the launch of FutureMe, an innovative product that provides XING members with information based on their personal career situations in order to help them orient themselves professionally and find ideas when they are job-hunting. FutureMe uses information provided by XING members to reveal typical qualifications and career paths for a wide range of jobs.
Following its repositioning, XING also introduced a job search that allows members to search not only by traditional criteria such as salary and position, but also by factors such as “childcare,” “home office,” and even “dog-friendliness.”

Highest growth in six years sees 456,000 new members in H1
Vollmoeller: “We are very pleased that XING’s new products and services are enabling the network to appeal to more and more people. As a result, the first half of 2014 has seen us record the strongest membership growth in six years.” XING has welcomed 456,000 new members, bringing its total number of members in D-A-CH today to 7.4 million. Following the rebranding of the event platform “amiando” as “XING EVENTS” and the increased use of XING EVENTS to acquire new members, the company has been seeing the growth in the number of XING EVENTS users since the start of the year. In H1 XING acquired 183,000 new users—users who were not already XING members—for XING EVENTS. This brings the number of XING users in the D-A-CH region at the end of June to more than 7.6 million.

At €11.5 million, EBITDA excluding kununu earn-out (-€1.0 million) was slightly higher than the previous year’s €11.2 m, despite the TV commercial campaign at the start of the year. The EBITDA margin was 24 percent and the earnings before taxes amounted to €4.8 million (previous year: €4.7 million).

About XING
XING is the social network for business professionals. Around 14 million members worldwide – over 7 million of whom are based in German-speaking countries – use XING to boost their business, job, and career. XING is a platform where professionals from all kinds of different industries can meet up, find jobs, colleagues, new assignments, cooperation partners, experts and generate business ideas. Members can meet and exchange views in over 50,000 specialist groups, while also getting together at networking events. The platform is operated by XING AG, which was founded in Hamburg, Germany, in 2003, has been publicly listed since 2006, and listed on the TecDAX since September 2011. In December 2010, XING acquired amiando AG, a Munich-based company and Europe’s leading provider of online event management and ticketing. The acquisition of kununu GmbH, the leading platform for employer reviews in German-speaking countries, allows XING to extend its position as the social recruiting market leader.