“Unicorn” owns Batdongsan.com in trouble in Vietnam, Q1 revenue drops 34%

Real estate unicorn (proptech) PropertyGuru’s revenue in the first quarter of 2023 in Vietnam market fell by more than 34% year-on-year, as other markets in Asia, including Singapore and Malaysia, both increased. growth over 25%. ProptertyGuru acquired Batdonsan.com in Vietnam from 2018.

Specifically, PropertyGuru’s revenue from Vietnam reached S$3.3 million, equivalent to more than VND57 billion. Singapore is the biggest market for this real estate unicorn, with sales of nearly S$19 million in the first quarter, followed by Malaysia of nearly S$7 million. Vietnam ranked third.

The number of real estate listed on the platform in Vietnam only reached 1.1 million in the first quarter of the year, down 32% over the same period. The average revenue on listed properties was S$2.95, the same level as last year.

PropertyGuru’s adjusted EBITDA in Vietnam was S$0.9 million, compared with S$1.1 million in the same period last year. While both Singapore and Malaysia are relatively high performers, with 1Q2023 adjusted EBITDA margins of 74% and 51% respectively.

“The performance in Singapore and Malaysia has helped offset challenging market conditions in Vietnam,” said general manager Hari V. Krishnan.

PropertyGuru assesses that Vietnam is still the main challenge in the coming time, because the Government’s monetary policy has a significant impact on real estate transactions. But, the Singapore unicorn also thinks the pressure will start to ease by the end of 2023 and into 2024.

By the end of the first quarter of 2023, Batdongsan.com’s parent company said it was leading in terms of market share in all key markets. In Vietnam, unicorns reached 83%, 5.1 times higher than the nearest rival, according to SimilarWeb data. Other markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand recorded 82%, 93% and 54% respectively. This partly demonstrates the dominant position of the real estate unicorn in the region.

PropertyGuru’s market capitalization in Vietnam is currently around 720 million USD. When it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2022, the company was worth $8.5 billion.