ZPG REPORTS RECORD PERFORMANCE AND GROWTH

ZPG REPORTS RECORD PERFORMANCE AND GROWTH

Half-year results for the six months ended 31 March 2018

ZPG Plc (LSE:ZPG) (“ZPG” or the “Company”), which owns and operates some of the UK’s most trusted home-related digital platforms, today announces its half-year results for the six months ended 31 March 2018 (the "Period").

Financial highlights

Business highlights

• Revenue up by 33% to £156.9 million and Adjusted EBITDA up by 41% to £63.4 million
• Like-for-like5 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA increased by 10% and 21% respectively
• Adjusted EBITDA margin up to 40.4% driven by improvements and timing of investment
• Almost 350 million visits across the group’s platforms generating >36 million partner leads
• New product portfolio, data expertise and partner relationships resulting from acquisitions
• Continued product innovation and differentiation with launch of new tools across platforms
• Profit for the Period3 was up 33% after acquisition-related costs and share-based payments
• The Board has resolved not to declare an interim dividend following the Silver Lake offer

Property

• Revenue up 34% to £74.9 million due to acquisitions and strong performance across all verticals
• Like-for-like5 Property revenue and Adjusted EBITDA increased by 9% and 11% respectively
• Total # of unique partners (including acquisitions) increased by 9% to 26,173 at end of Period
• UK Agency partners up 7% and listings up 6% to 15,264 branches and 982k listings respectively
• ARPP6 up by 18% to £484 due to acquisitions, as well as continued product up-sell and cross-sell

Comparison

• Revenue up 32% to £82.0 million due to acquisitions and strong underlying7 performance
• Like-for-like5 Comparison revenue and Adjusted EBITDA increased by 10% and 38% respectively
• 27.1 million leads generated helping consumers save over £300 million off their household bills
• Account sign-ups increased to 2.8 million with launch of new Bill Assistant product on uSwitch
• Continued progress on integration of products across brands and development of single platform

Silver Lake offer

• Silver Lake, a leading global technology investor, has offered to acquire ZPG for £4.90 per share in cash
• The ZPG Board believes that the offer reflects the value created by ZPG to date and its future prospects
• Scheme Document expected to be posted 24 May and shareholder meetings expected to be held 18 June
• Subject to shareholder approval and required regulatory clearances, completion is anticipated in Q3 2018

Commenting on today’s announcement Alex Chesterman, Founder & CEO of ZPG Plc said:

“We had a strong first half to the year across both divisions and I am pleased to report revenue of £156.9m and Adjusted EBITDA of £63.4m for the Period. We continue to grow our consumer engagement and to lead innovation with the launch of new tools across our platforms, helping our consumers to make smarter property and household-related decisions and our partners to operate more effectively.

“Our Property division performed well across each vertical, helped by demand for additional products, cross-sell and new contract wins, including the continued return of agents to our portals.”

“Our Comparison division also performed well with leads up across each vertical. Energy had an exceptionally strong first half as a result of ongoing optimisation of the consumer journey and extreme weather during the Period prompting increased switching levels.

“Looking ahead, we are excited about the prospect of working with Silver Lake and the opportunity this offers to our employees, consumers and partners as we move to the next stage of ZPG’s development and growth.”

Outlook

ZPG has enjoyed a good start to the second half of its financial year across both divisions. In Property, we are encouraged by the strong cross-sell pipeline for our products as well as the rate of returning UK agents to our portals. The Comparison business continues to trade well despite seasonally lower switching volumes in the Energy vertical during the warmer months and increased investment in our brands which will be weighted more towards the second half of this financial year. Management remains comfortable with financial year 2018 market expectations8,9.

The paragraph above, together with the Company collated Adjusted EBITDA consensus figure in Note 8 below, constitutes an ordinary course profit forecast for ZPG’s financial year ending 30 September 2018 for the purposes of Rule 28 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the “Profit Forecast”). Accordingly, the ZPG Directors have given the confirmation set out in Note 10 below.

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact:
Lawrence Hall, Director of Communications - lawrence.hall@zpg.co.uk / 07890 078 945
Rachael Malcolm, Head of Investor Relations – rachael.malcolm@zpg.co.uk / 0203 8725 648
James Isola, Maitland - 020 7379 5151
http://www.zpg.co.uk/
  
A webcast of the management team presentation to analysts and investors will be made available at www.zpg.co.uk at 09.00am this morning and registration can be accessed here. An audio dial-in will also be made available:
Standard International Access: +44 (0) 203 003 2666
UK Toll-Free Number: 0808 109 0700
United States Toll-Free Number: 1 866 966 5335
United States Toll Number: 1 646 843 4608
Participant password: ZPG

1. When reviewing performance, the Directors use a combination of both statutory and adjusted performance measures. The adjusted performance measures, including Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted basic EPS, provide additional information in line with how financial performance is measured by management and reported to the Board. These measures are reconciled in the Summary Income Statement in the Finance Review below.
2. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as operating profit after adding back depreciation and amortisation, share-based payments and exceptional items.
3. Profit for the Period includes £17.7 million (H1 2017: £13.0 million) of exceptional items and amortisation of intangibles arising on acquisitions (adjusted for tax) recognised during the Period.
4. Adjusted basic EPS is calculated as profit for the Period excluding exceptional items and amortisation of intangible assets arising on acquisitions, adjusted for tax and divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue for the year.
5. Like-for-like growth includes a full six months trading from all acquisitions in both periods.
6. Average revenue per partner (ARPP) represents total revenue from ZPG’s Property partners in a given month divided by the number of Property partners during the month, measured as a monthly average over the Period.
7. Underlying excludes the contribution from acquisitions made during the 18 months to 31 March 2018.
8. As at 22 May 2018 Company collated consensus figures for FY18 Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA were £310 million and £122 million, respectively. These figures include only those analysts who have published updated figures since our full year results and announcement of the Calcasa acquisition and excludes any impact from the conditional sale of Hometrack Australia.
9. The conditional sale of Hometrack Australia, announced following the end of the Period is expected to complete during the second half and would therefore impact on FY results accordingly.
10. The ZPG Directors confirm that the Profit Forecast remains valid and has been properly compiled on the basis stated below and that the basis of accounting used is consistent with ZPG’s accounting policies, which are in accordance with IFRS and are those that ZPG will apply in preparing its financial statements for the financial year ending 30 September 2018. In confirming the ZPG Profit Forecast, the ZPG Directors made the following assumptions in respect of the financial year ending 30 September 2018:
    1. factors outside the influence or control of the ZPG Directors:
       • no material change in economic and political conditions in the locations and markets in which ZPG operates;
       • no material change in exchange, interest, tax and inflation rates in the locations in which ZPG operates;
       • no material changes in legislation or regulation that would restrict ZPG’s ability to operate or perform certain activities;
       • no significant one-off events that would have a material impact on the operating results or financial position of ZPG’s business;
       • no material changes in market conditions within the sector in which ZPG operates;
       • no litigation or disputes, arbitration proceedings, prosecution or other legal proceedings that would have a material impact on ZPG;
       • no business disruptions that would have a material impact on the operating results or financial position of ZPG’s business; and
    2. factors within the influence or control of the ZPG Directors:
       • no additional significant acquisitions, disposals, partnership or joint venture agreements being entered into by ZPG in the financial year ending 30 September 2018. The ZPG Profit Forecast excludes the impact of the disposal of Hometrack Australia;
       • no material changes to ZPG’s management team and other senior employees;
       • no material change in the overall strategy for ZPG with respect to its business.

Cautionary Statement

This document contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include matters that are not historical facts. Statements containing the words “believe”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “estimate” or, in each case, their negative and words of similar meaning are forward-looking. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events that may or may not occur in the future. We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that the Company’s actual financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and the development of the industry in which we operate, may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this document. In addition, even if the Company’s financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and the development of the industry in which we operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements in this document, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods. Important facts that could cause the Company’s actual results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, or the development of the industry in which we operate, to differ from current expectations include those principal risks and uncertainties disclosed below. As a consequence, the Company’s future financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, as well as the development of the industry in which we operate, may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or on the Company’s behalf.

About ZPG Plc (www.zpg.co.uk)

ZPG Plc (LSE:ZPG) (“ZPG”) owns and operates some of the UK’s most trusted digital brands that help empower smarter property and household decisions including Zoopla, uSwitch, Money, PrimeLocation and SmartNewHomes. We are also one of the leading residential property data and software providers with a range of products including Hometrack, Calcasa, TechnicWeb, Ravensworth, Alto, Jupix, ExpertAgent, PropertyFile and MoveIT. Our websites and apps attract over 50 million visits per month and over 25,000 business partners use our services. ZPG was founded in 2007 and has a highly experienced management team, led by Founder & CEO, Alex Chesterman OBE.

Zoopla is the UK's most comprehensive property website, helping consumers to research the market and find their next home by combining hundreds of thousands of property listings with market data and local information.

uSwitch is the UK's leading comparison website for home services switching, helping consumers to find the best deal and save money on their gas, electricity, broadband, TV, phone and other products.

Money is one of the UK’s leading financial services comparison websites, helping consumers compare products including mortgages, loans, credit cards, bank accounts and insurance from more than 600 providers.

PrimeLocation is one of the UK's leading property websites, helping house-hunters in the middle/upper tiers of the market find their dream home from the top estate agents, letting agents and property developers.

SmartNewHomes is the UK’s leading website dedicated exclusively to new homes, helping buyers understand the market and search for new build homes from all the leading property developers across the country.

Hometrack and Calcasa are leading providers of automated property valuations and statistical property market insights in the UK and Netherlands to partners including mortgage lenders, developers, investors, government agencies, housing associations and others.

TechnicWeb is the UK’s leading estate agency website design and hosting business specialising in designing and operating fully-responsive websites for the property sector.

Ravensworth is the UK’s leading provider of print solutions to estate agents and offers a comprehensive range of products and services for every stage of the property marketing journey from listing through to post-sale.

Alto, Jupix and ExpertAgent are some of the leading cloud-based estate agency and property management software systems used by thousands of property professionals across the UK for the day-to-day management of inventory, marketing and communications.

PropertyFile and MoveIT are innovative tools used by estate agents to improve communication and efficiency with their customers and to allow them to generate additional revenue streams via referrals.