Last update on 2024-06-07

Scout24 (G24.DE) - Piotroski F-Score Analysis for Year 2023 (Final Score: 8/9)

Scout24 (G24.DE) achieves a Piotroski F-Score of 8/9 in 2023, reflecting strong financial health.

Short Analysis - Piotroski Score: 8

We're running Scout24 (G24.DE) against the Piotroski 9-criteria scoring system to assess profitability, liquidity, and operating efficiency:

Piotroski F-Score is a measure between 0 and 9 that shows the strength of a company's financial position based on profitability, liquidity, and leverage. Scout24 (G24.DE) has a high score of 8, meaning it meets most of these criteria well. The company showed increasing net income, positive cash flow, improved Return on Assets, and declining debt. Although their current ratio is growing, it is still below the industry average. They also reduced the number of outstanding shares, indicating potential share buybacks. However, the Gross Margin slightly decreased. The Asset Turnover Ratio, which indicates how well a company uses its assets to generate sales, improved significantly.

Insights for Value Investors Seeking Stable Income

Since Scout24 (G24.DE) scores 8 out of 9 in the Piotroski F-Score, it appears to be a strong investment. The company has shown consistent profitability, good cash flow, and effective use of assets. While the current ratio could be better, the overall financial health looks stable. Therefore, Scout24 could be worth considering for investment.

For those who are interested in delving deeper into the specifics, the subsequent section provides a comprehensive exploration of the criteria.

Profitability of Scout24 (G24.DE)

Company has a positive net income?

Net income measures a company's profitability. It's vital to analyze whether the company is making a profit, thereby showcasing operational efficiency and financial health.

Scout24 (G24.DE) reported a net income of €178,778,000 in 2023. This figure is significantly higher compared to previous years and represents a clear positive trend in the company’s profitability. In fact, the net income has been generally rising, except for a few fluctuations, over the past decade. Notably, in 2013 and 2014, Scout24 reported negative net incomes of €-51,921,600 and €-26,571,993, respectively. This shift from negative to positive numbers, especially with a notable increase in recent years, signifies robust financial health and effective management practices. Consequently, one point is awarded for this criterion.

Company has a positive cash flow?

Operating cash flow (CFO) indicates the cash generated from a company’s regular business operations. Positive CFO is crucial as it signifies that the business can generate sufficient cash flow to sustain, invest, and potentially expand operations.

Scout24's CFO for 2023 is positive at €200,989,000. Over the past decade, the company has consistently shown positive CFO figures, reaffirming its robust ability to generate cash from core operations. For instance, while the CFO in 2022 was slightly lower at €161,923,000, it has shown a healthy upward trend in 2023. This positive and growing CFO trend over the years provides a strong indication of Scout24's financial health and operational efficiency.

Return on Assets (ROA) are growing?

Return on Assets (ROA) measures the ability of a company to generate profit from its assets and is important because it reflects operational efficiency.

In 2022, Scout24's ROA was 0.0574, which increased to 0.0917 in 2023. This increase by 0.0343 points indicates an improvement in the company's ability to generate earnings from its assets, signaling enhanced operational efficiency over the year. Compared to the Industry Median ROA, which was 0.6255 in 2022 and 0.7025 in 2023, Scout24 still lags significantly behind. However, the positive trend within Scout24's ROA, accompanied by a significant increase in operating cash flow from €16.9 million to €20.1 million over the year, is a promising sign that suggests the company is on the right path toward better profitability and efficiency. Therefore, 1 point is added for this criterion.

Operating Cashflow are higher than Netincome?

Assessing whether the Operating Cash Flow is higher than the Net Income.

For Scout24 (G24.DE) in 2023, the Operating Cash Flow stands at EUR 200,989,000, surpassing the Net Income of EUR 178,778,000. This criterion gains a point, reflecting well on the company’s financial flexibility. Over the last years: - Operating Cash Flow has generally been robust, peaking at EUR 208,250,000 in 2018, while hitting EUR 83,145,000 in 2020 before rebounding. - Net Income experienced a notable spike to EUR 2,367,076,000 in 2020, which was likely due to extraordinary items, as evidenced by a more normalized figure in subsequent years. The consistent positive Operating Cash Flow coupled with a steadily increasing Net Income, except for the spike, highlights good operational efficiency and cash generation capability.

Liquidity of Scout24 (G24.DE)

Leverage is declining?

Leverage refers to the amount of debt that a company uses to finance its operations and growth, with a higher leverage indicating a higher level of debt.

In 2023, Scout24's leverage decreased to 0.024 from 0.0271 in 2022. This reduction in leverage points to an improvement in the company's financial stability by lowering its debt levels. Over the last decade, Scout24 has significantly reduced its leverage from a high of 0.3525 in 2015 to just 0.024 in 2023, a positive trend indicating cautious financial management. Thus, this criterion would score 1 point.

Current Ratio is growing?

The Current Ratio gauges a company's ability to cover short-term liabilities with short-term assets. An increasing ratio implies better liquidity.

Scout24's Current Ratio for 2023 stands at 0.528, up from 0.4694 in 2022, marking an increase. A higher Current Ratio generally suggests better short-term financial health, earning Scout24 1 Piotroski point. Over the last decade, the group's Current Ratio peaked in 2020 at 12.4111, driven possibly by pandemic-induced financial strategies, before declining. Additionally, despite the uptick in 2023, the company's Current Ratio lags significantly behind the industry median of 2.2043 for the same year, indicating a need for further liquidity improvements to match industry standards.

Number of shares not diluted?

Change in shares outstanding quantifies the difference in total shares issued and can impact metrics like EPS and ownership dilution.

Comparing the Outstanding Shares of Scout24 from 2022 (77,806,579 shares) to 2023 (73,691,314 shares), we observe a decrease. The reduction in shares outstanding suggests a reduction by 4,115,265 shares, indicative of a potential share buyback program. This is typically seen as a positive move because it signals that the company may be returning value to its shareholders or confidence in its current valuation. Hence, for the Piotroski Score, a decrease in outstanding shares in 2023 adds 1 point.

Operating of Scout24 (G24.DE)

Cross Margin is growing?

Change in Gross Margin is a critical metric reflecting a company's pricing power and cost efficiency, crucial indicators of overall profitability.

The Gross Margin for Scout24 in 2023 stands at 1.0028, compared to 1.0151 in 2022. This indicates a decrease, conveying a slight downturn in the company's cost management efficiency and pricing power. Consequently, based on this criterion, no point is awarded as the performance did not improve. Over the past decade, Scout24's Gross Margin numbers demonstrate inconsistency, moving from 0.8331 in 2013 to various fluctuations, reaching a peak of 1.0212 in 2021 and gradually declining afterward. Interestingly, despite this year's decrease, Scout24's Gross Margin still comfortably exceeds the industry's median of 0.7025 for 2023, indicating the company remains superior in cost management relative to its peers.

Asset Turnover Ratio is growing?

Asset Turnover Ratio is a financial metric that measures the efficiency of a company in using its assets to generate sales. It is important for assessing operational efficiency.

The Asset Turnover ratio for Scout24 (G24.DE) has increased from 0.2081 in 2022 to 0.2611 in 2023. This positive trend denotes a better utilization of assets in generating revenue. Over the last decade, the company's Asset Turnover ratio fluctuated but hit its highest point in 2023, indicating improved operational efficiency. For instance, the ratio was as low as 0.1189 in 2020 and gradually climbed, reflecting focused management strategies to leverage asset base more effectively. This development scores 1 point in the Piotroski Analysis.