iCar Asia Limited reports annual revenue growth of 41% YoY
March 21st, 2018
iCar Asia Limited, ASEAN's largest network of automotive portals today released the full year Financial Report of 2017. iCar Asia announces revenue growth of 41% year on year (FOREX-neutral) to A$9.1m.
While iCar Asia’s showed substantial growth, the total cost increment was only 2%. An additional revenue of A$2.4m was added in 2017. Of which A$2.0m (81%) went to the EBITDA and the losses were decreased by 14% year on year to A$11.8m.
Outstanding operational metrics
These financial results were achieved by delivering growth in all of the company’s key operating metrics in all countries where there is a presence of iCar Asia.
Highlights for the month of December 2017 include:
- A 48% year on year increase in unique visitors. A number that now stands at 11.2 million unique visitors.
- 42% year on year growth in total leads across the company’s portals. There are now more than 1 million leads.
- 23% year on year increase in total paid accounts across the company. Now we have more than 5,900 accounts.
- 52% year on year increment in total number of Bump deals requested by dealers/sellers on iCar Asia’s portals. The year saw 247,000 Bumps in total (To clarify: a ‘Bump’ is a paid product that a dealer can use. It promotes a listing to the top of a relevant search result).
- The company also saw a growth of 12% in total listings that now stand at 479,000 live listings.
- Let’s take a look at each country individually.
Thailand
Both the audience and leads saw a substantial growth in December 2017. The company saw a dramatic increase of 61% in consumers and 60% in leads. The figures reassure of the continuous trend of car dealers using digital channels to conduct their businesses.
The dealer accounts on iCar Asia’s portals in Thailand were increased by 25% year on year, in December alone, the increment was 8%. The overall revenue saw a growth of 39% year on year, and there was a 32% improvement in EBITDA loss.
Malaysia
Consumers grew 38% year on year in December 2017 and the leads saw a staggering growth of 55% as car buyers and sellers continue to use online portals.
iCar Asia sites’ core products including Bumps saw a growth of 26% year on year in December. The overall revenue increase in December swelled to 29%. EBITDA losses were reduced by 39%. 
Indonesia
The Indonesian chapter of iCar Asia also enjoyed significant growth with audience and leads growing to 38% and 16% year on year in December 2017 respectively. The growth enabled dealers to conduct their business with more frequency thus the company saw an outstanding increase of 77% in total listings in the month of December 2017. The overall revenue grew by 87% year on year as iCar Asia followed through its rigorous monetization strategies. The EBITDA loss remained flat year on year, but showed a 21% improvement in 2H 2017 versus 2H 2016. 
2017: Business transformation completed
The CEO of iCar Asia Limited, Mr. Hamish Stone commented on the performance of the company in 2017. He said,
“2017 has been exceptional forus, making the right choices in product investment, technology, marketing optimization and the reshaping of sales processes. These choices have delivered growth in all of all our key operating metrics and a return to strong revenue growth across all markets while tightly controlling costs. This demonstrates that iCar Asia can deliver sustainable growth as it heads towards profitability,”
Great momentum going into 2018 with clear goals
Mr Stone further added, “With the transformation of the business completed and a strong end to 2017, the iCar Asia is well set-up to benefit in 2018 from the positive economic conditions in the ASEAN region and the recovery in the automotive industry across all of the markets iCar Asia operates in,”
2018 is expected to be a strong year for the company. Since they have solid growth plans:
- Audience and leads increment with improved conversion, app and messaging platforms.
- Used car dealer engagement through digital training, app and product usage.
- Taking up and implementing the new car transaction model.
- Expanding online advertising solutions into physical events.
- Expanding into car services including finance, insurance and warranty.
Mr. Stone concluded, “In 2018 we expect to continue to grow our core business of used cars and advertising solutions, and leverage our market leadership positions to further establish our new car, events and car services operations. As the largest and most trusted automotive marketplace across the ASEAN region, iCar Asia is in a great position to capture the returns as the region continues on the road of digital transformation.”
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About iCar Asia Limited (www.icarasia.com)Listed on the Australia Securities Exchange, iCar Asia (ASX: ICQ) owns and operates ASEAN’s No.1 network of automotive portals. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the company is focused on developing and operating leading automotive portals in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. iCar Asia is continuously working to capitalise on its market-leading positions, with its online properties currently reaching approximately 12million car buyers and sellers in the region every month.iCar Asia Network of websites:
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