Vend Marketplaces Asa

Reported Q2 group revenue was NOK 1,696 million, flat year on year and 2% higher in constant currency. Group EBITDA was NOK 674 million, up 16% year on year, with margin around 40%. Operating profit was NOK 448 million versus NOK 330 million a year ago, and net profit was NOK 401 million. Cash flow from operating activities was NOK 517 million, capex was NOK 105 million, and the company ended the quarter with a net cash position of almost NOK 2 billion. For 2026, management kept the vertical revenue outlook unchanged: Real Estate, Jobs, and Recommerce are expected to grow in line with medium-term targets, Mobility mid to high single digits, and Other HQ revenue is now expected to fall by around NOK 350 million. OPEX excluding COGS is now expected to decline by about NOK 150 million in 2026 versus 2025, improved from prior guidance of about NOK 100 million.

Christian Printzell Halvorsen framed Vend as a focused marketplace business moving into “full-scale execution,” emphasizing expanded profitability, accelerated cost management, and strategic progress. He said the consumer-facing marketplace migration is essentially complete in Norway, with Blocket metrics improving and more resources now able to shift from migration work to new products, including AI-driven features. His tone was constructive but realistic: he highlighted strong underlying health while acknowledging that Mobility, especially Sweden and Denmark, still has near-term challenges.

Per Christian Mørland focused on the cost base, noting OPEX excluding COGS declined 10% in the quarter, with other costs down 33% thanks to simplification and reduced cloud/IT costs after TSA exits. He said marketing costs rose 23% as Vend supported growth, personnel costs increased 2%, and total FTEs ended at 1,648 versus 1,660 in Q1, with around 100 FTEs reduced through reorganizations during the quarter. He also detailed cash generation and allocation: operating cash flow was NOK 517 million, investing cash flow was minus NOK 62 million, capex was NOK 105 million, buybacks totaled NOK 1.4 billion in Q2, dividends were NOK 527 million, and the company finished with almost NOK 2 billion of net cash.

Analysts focused on Swedish Mobility ARPA and volumes, competitive pressure versus Tradera, the VAT case, OpEx and capex run rates, marketing intensity, Denmark professional volumes, LLM traffic, and Recommerce pricing and cross-border listings. Management said Swedish professional ARPA rose only 3% because the price increase was partly offset by lower voluntary spend such as reduced bump usage, but they still see themselves in a strong competitive position and do not see substitution to Tradera. On the VAT matter, they gave no new information. They also said LLM referral traffic is still below 0.5% and hardly increasing, and that the Recommerce take-rate/volume balance is being managed category by category rather than by a broad take-rate cut.