11/05/2014 | XING

XING reports record revenue and member growth in third quarter

  • Sustained growth acceleration: 20% rise in revenues and 42% growth in E-Recruiting segment
  • 282,000 new members is strongest growth reported since IPO in 2006
  • Successful jobs product campaign launched in September
  • Estimated EBITDA for FY 2014: €28-29 million


Hamburg, 6 November 2014 – XING, the leading professional network in German-speaking countries, again posted an acceleration in growth during the third quarter. Total revenues rose by 20% to €26.0 million (Q3/2013: €21.6 million). The main drivers were the E-Recruiting and Network/Premium segments.

Sustained growth acceleration: 20% rise in revenues and 42% growth in E-Recruiting segment

After revamping the Premium offering, an initiative launched at the end of last year, income from the Network/Premium segment has grown significantly. This was also the case during Q3 where revenues grew by 14% to €15.6 million (Q3/2013: €13.7 million). The main driver behind this was again the E-Recruiting segment with revenues of €8.8 million, which equates to a 42% increase over the same period last year (€6.2 million). This enabled XING to continue its accelerated growth trajectory in the Premium and E-Recruiting segments. As anticipated, revenues of €1.2 million reported for the Events segment were slightly down from the same period last year (€1.3 million). This was due to a realignment of the Events business from a purely B2B model to include B2C offerings in the future.

282,000 new members is strongest growth reported since IPO in 2006

 


Thomas Vollmoeller, XING AG CEO, said: "It's great to see how our repositioning of XING and our product initiatives are bearing fruit. Not only am I extremely happy to report a record quarter in Q3, I'm particularly pleased about acquiring more new members than in any other quarter since the IPO in 2006."

During the period under report, XING welcomed 282,000 new members from German-speaking countries. A contributing factor here was the

 

www.lebenslauf.com platform that XING acquired in Q2. As a result of this member growth, XING had 7.7 million members in German-speaking countries as of the end of the third quarter. An additional 265,000 people also signed up to XING EVENTS. In total, XING's user base rose to 7.9 million as of the end of September.

Successful jobs product campaign launched in September

XING relaunched its Jobs section and introduced XING ProJobs in the third quarter to accommodate the changes taking place on the labour market. XING already pivoted last year to account for these changes by realigning its communication and product strategy. The jobs campaign was rolled out in autumn by relaunching XING Jobsmarket, which stands out from other conventional job portals by focussing on jobseeker needs. This means that jobseekers can look for companies whose employees confirm that their employer offers flexitime, a good work-life balance or childcare facilities, for example. kununu, the largest employer review platform in German-speaking countries, serves as the basis for all of this information. XING Jobsmarket also offers a section for companies with environmental or social expertise, while another section lists vacancies for people interested in climbing the career ladder.

XING continued its jobs product campaign in October by introducing XING ProJobs, the first-ever paid Premium add-on. XING ProJobs is a powerful tool that enables members to highlight themselves to potential employers, while also granting access to exclusive, well-paid job offers as well as a CV check to enhance their professional image.

Estimated EBITDA for FY 2014: €28-29 million

The operating result (EBITDA) for Q3 including the non-operating kununu earn-out obligation comes to €9.1 million (€9.9 million excluding the non-operating kununu earn-out obligation). The consolidated net profit for Q3 including the non-operating kununu earn-out obligation amounts to €4.7 million (€5.4 million excluding the non-operating kununu earn-out obligation).

The Company's estimated EBITDA for FY 2014 including the non-operating kununu earn-out obligation is €28-29 million.

About XING
XING is the social network for business professionals. Around 14 million members worldwide – nearly 8 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.