Hemnet sales fall 17.8% in third quarter as restructuring proceeds
Key Facts
Hemnet, the property listings platform, reported a 17.8% year-on-year decline in third-quarter net sales in results released on 22 October 2026, as it implemented its new strategy and restructured its operations. Sales totalled 301.5 million Swedish kronor, compared with 366.7 million kronor in the third quarter of 2025, according to the earnings report published on the company's website. The decline extended to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, which fell faster than sales. These earnings totalled 144.1 million kronor for the quarter, compared with 195.4 million kronor a year earlier, a decline of 26.3%. The margin on this basis was 47.8%, compared with 53.3% in the corresponding period, as falling revenue was accompanied by margin contraction. The results follow the company's announcement on 29 September 2026 of a new strategic phase involving a reorganisation and the introduction of free property listing formats. The announced transformation measures combine changes to how listings are made available on the platform with reductions in the operating cost base and workforce.
Hemnet aims to achieve annual operating savings of around 80–85 million Swedish kronor from the restructuring once its full impact is realised, according to the plan announcement. On staffing, the company set a target of around 115 employees following the restructuring. That compares with about 184 employees at the end of the second quarter of 2026, the figure the company used as its comparison base in the announcement. In a financial update accompanying its third-quarter results, Hemnet estimated one-off restructuring costs at around 36–37 million kronor. It said these costs would be recognised in the fourth quarter of 2026, while the announced savings remain an annual target tied to full implementation of the plan. The financial path of the reorganisation thus includes one-off expenses in the coming period alongside the targeted reduction in annual operating spending.
The August sales update had shown a revenue decline ahead of the quarterly results, with preliminary sales for that month totalling 81.8 million Swedish kronor. The company compared that figure with sales of 107.4 million kronor in August a year earlier, a year-on-year decline of around 24%. In the same update, it explained the revenue recognition mechanism for listings using the "sell first, pay later" option, which ties revenue recognition to completion of the property sale. It said revenue from these listings "is recognised upon sale rather than at the time of publication", shifting revenue recognition to later periods. The timing of revenue recognition for a listing covered by this option therefore differs from when it appears on the platform, with the sale being the event at which revenue is recorded. As background to the stock's performance, Investing reported in coverage dated 10 September 2026 that Hemnet shares fell 15% during the session after the board decided to suspend share buybacks.
On strategy implementation, Hemnet enabled estate agents to publish free residential property listings directly on its platform on 20 October 2026, according to the service launch announcement. It said in that statement that the next step would be to begin automatically aggregating listings from agents' websites during the week following the launch. Implementation thus includes one route allowing agents to publish listings themselves on the platform and another to collect listings from their websites. The company is scheduled to publish October sales figures on 13 November 2026, according to its investor relations calendar. It will then report results for the 2026 financial year on 28 January 2027, according to the date set in its financial report. The company expects the full impact of the operating savings associated with the restructuring to be realised during the first half of 2027.