The total revenue of Yandex for 2022 grew by 46%, exceeding 520 billion rubles, adjusted net profit almost doubled to 10.8 billion rubles. The company associates the dynamics with indicators in the search and smart devices segments. According to analysts, first of all, Yandex managed to take advantage of the withdrawal of foreign players from the Russian advertising market. At the same time, Yandex does not make forecasts for 2023, promising only to complete the division of assets into Russian and international ones.
“Kommersant” got acquainted with reporting “Yandex” for October-December and the full year 2022. The company reported an increase in annual revenue by 46%, to 521.7 billion rubles. Adjusted net profit amounted to RUB 10.8 billion. (in 2021 – 5.6 billion rubles), adjusted EBITDA – 64.1 billion rubles. (against RUB 32.1 billion in 2021). In the last quarter of the year, the dynamics of revenue remained unchanged – it grew by 49%, to 164 billion rubles, while EBITDA grew by 77%, to 17.2 billion rubles. However, adjusted net income fell by 72% to RUB 747 million.
One of the factors in the decline in profits is the growth of unprofitability in the segments of ridetech (taxi and carsharing services) and delivery, says Anna Avakimyan, chief analyst at RegBlok. The adjusted EBITDA loss of the ridetech and e-commerce group in the fourth quarter amounted to RUB 10.6 billion. against 7.3 billion rubles. a year earlier. The segment’s revenue for the year increased by 57%, to RUB 260.7 billion, while the adjusted EBITDA loss increased by 37%, to RUB 19 billion. The second reason, according to the expert, “is of a fundamental nature”: the company’s revenue is in rubles, and debt obligations are in foreign currency: “Thus, the weakening of the ruble significantly worsens the company’s financial results, despite the improvement in operating indicators.”
A significant part of Yandex’s income in October-December was provided by the Search and Portal segment – 69.7 billion rubles. (growth by 47% year on year).
Adjusted EBITDA in it amounted to 36 billion rubles. The segment’s revenue for the year increased by 38%, to 224.6 billion rubles, EBITDA – by 45%, to 116.8 billion rubles. The total search share of Yandex in the Russian market, according to its own data, increased by 2.4 percentage points, to 62.6%. The company also noted the contribution of smart devices to business income: quarterly revenue from the latter increased by 189%, to 11.7 billion rubles.
By the end of 2022, the number of Yandex Plus subscribers reached 19.3 million (the result of 2021 was 11.6 million), the number of monthly active viewers of Kinopoisk was 8.4 million (at the end of 2021, Yandex reported ” about 6 million). The company announced that it increased its Plus and Entertainment Services segment revenue by 84% to RUB 12 billion. One of the reasons for the growth of Yandex called the change in tariffs: in November 2022, the company removed the cheapest Yandex Plus subscription option.
With a slight increase in the search share, it was possible to significantly increase revenue in this segment, Leonid Delitsyn, an analyst at the Finam group of companies, noted: “The company took advantage of the successful situation in the online advertising market, from which foreign advertisers left. Not all companies were ready for this.” According to him, the synergy between Yandex services, especially in terms of ordering a taxi, delivery and e-commerce, also contributed to revenue growth. The restructuring of the company, according to Mr. Delitsin, may deprive the Russian part of the company of “technologies of the distant future, but not the nearest.”
The company’s annual revenue exceeded the forecast given in last year’s financial statements (490-500 billion rubles), which was withdrawn, however, by Yandex itself back in April 2022. The company did not disclose expectations for 2023 either, only denoting “completion of the proposed corporate restructuring” as one of the key tasks. We are talking about a plan presented in November 2022, according to which the Dutch Yandex NV (the parent structure of the group) can exit most segments of Yandex’s business. In a letter to shareholders, the company assures that it is “actively working” on the restructuring.
Also in 2023, Yandex plans to “keep the focus on financial discipline and operational efficiency.” The company will extend the cash compensation program introduced for employees due to the inability to provide options – during 2022, Yandex spent 18.5 billion rubles on compensation.
