Singapore's PropertyGuru earns $2.5 mln from Vietnam market in Q1

Singapore-headquartered PropertyGuru recorded a revenue of SGD3.33 million ($2.5 million) from the Vietnamese market in the first quarter of this year, down 34.2% year-on-year, according to a company report on quarterly financial results released Wednesday.

With the result, the earning before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was negative SGD921,000 ($680,960), versus a positive SGD1.14 million ($840,670) in the same period of 2022, the leading Southeast Asian property technology (proptech) company said.

The firm globally made a revenue of SGD32.63 million ($24.13 million) in Q1/2023, up 15.6% year-on-year, with Vietnam being the only market with a year-on-year decrease. The EBITDA reached SGD220,000 ($162,660), down 60%.

PropertyGuru reaffirmed its full year targets of revenues between SGD160 million ($118.3 million) and SGD170 million ($125.7 million), and adjusted EBITDA from SGD11 million ($8.13 million) to SGD15 million ($11.09 million).

It admitted in the short term, it would have to face several impacts beyond its control, such as the Vietnamese government limiting the availability of consumer credit.

The Q1 performance was a successful start to 2023, with business in Singapore and Malaysia helping offset the challenging market conditions in Vietnam, said Hari Krishnan, CEO and managing director of PropertyGuru.

“Vietnam remains the primary challenge in the near-term, as governmental monetary policy has significantly impacted real estate transaction activity. We believe that these pressures will begin to abate in the latter part of 2023 and into 2024,” Hari emphasized.

At a macro level, Vietnam’s market is challenging but PropertyGuru has seen some positive signs. The State Bank of Vietnam has recently reduced the interest rates and helped real estate projects move forward with the government’s guidelines, Hari added.

PropertyGuru is a PropTech company and the preferred destination for over 41 million property seekers to connect with more than 63,000 agents monthly to find their dream homes.

It posted revenue of $17.86 million from its Vietnam operation last year, up 28.1% year-on-year, according to the firm’s 2022 financial report.

Vietnam's real estate market can recover in late 2023 after turbulence in 2022, said Le Bao Long, director of strategy at Batdongsan.com.vn, a key proptech business in Vietnam, which was merged into PropertyGuru in 2018 after initial cooperation in 2016.