D-Market Elektronik Hizmetler ve Ticaret A.S. Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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August 24, 2023

There are 5 speakers on the call.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I am Gaele, your Chorus Call operator. Welcome and thank you for joining the HEPSI PURRATA conference call and Live Webcast to Present and Discuss the Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results. All participants will be in listen only mode and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

Operator

Star and 0 on your telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Nilhan Upteikim, CEO Mr. Corhan Oz, CFO and Ms. Helene Selig Pelik, Investor Relations Director.

Operator

Ms. Selig Pelik, you may now proceed.

Speaker 1

Thanks, operator. Thank you for joining us today for HebsiBorada's Q2 2023 earnings call. I'm pleased to be joined on the call today by our CEO, Niran Onal Gokcetykin and our CFO, Korhan Oz. The following discussion, including responses to your Questions reflect management's views as of today's date only. We undertake no obligation to update or revise this information except as required by law.

Speaker 1

Certain statements made on today's call are forward looking statements and actual results may differ materially from these forward looking statements. Please refer to today's earnings release as well as the risk factors described in the Safe Harbor slide of today's supplemental slide deck, today's press release, the 6 ks, our Form 20 F filed with the SEC on May 1, 2023, and other SEC filings for informational factors that could cause our Actual results to differ materially from these forward looking statements. Also, we will reference certain non IFRS measures during today's call. Please refer to the appendix of our supplemental slide deck as well as today's press release for a presentation of the most directly comparable IFRS measure and the relevant IFRS to non IFRS reconciliation. As a reminder, a replay of this call will be available on our Investor Relations website.

Speaker 1

With that, I will hand it over to our CEO, Niran.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Helen. Welcome, everyone, and thank you so much for joining us. I'm really pleased to be with you today and to to present our quarterly progress. In a quarter of continued tough macroeconomic conditions and uncertainties Throughout the election process, we doubled our GMV year over year and improved our profitability margin. Our robust performance exceeded our quarterly guidance, thanks to our operational agility.

Speaker 2

A staggering 77,500,000 orders On a 94.6 percent rise over Q2 'twenty two resulted in strong GMV growth. This was achieved through our attractive customer and merchant value proposition and compelling services. Our focus on profitability led to a notable 10.4% gross contribution margin, which is 200 bps year over year. This metric underscores our strategic actions of lowering promotion spending, growing the share of nonelectronics and marketplace operations in the GMV mix. Furthermore, our EBITDA as percentage of GMV reached an impressive 2% is plus 4.70 basis points year over year.

Speaker 2

This is achieved through effective OpEx management. Excluding the one off provision reversal, 1.5 percent EBITDA still exceeded our quarterly guidance. Meanwhile, we remain Turkey's foremost e commerce place in NPS with our exceptional customer service, top notch logistics services and diverse affordability solutions. With over 1,300,000 members, Hepse Puroda Premium is on track to contribute to order frequency and customer retention. Overall, our 2nd quarter results are characterized by solid growth and higher profitability.

Speaker 2

It is worth spending another minute on this quarter's guidance performance. Our GMV growth of 101% outpaced our guidance of around 95%. Strong growth coupled with diligent cost management resulted in an EBITDA as percentage of GMV at 2%. This 0.5 percentage points higher than the upfront of the guidance excluding the one off. Our performance validates the effectiveness of our strategies for driving sustained profitable growth.

Speaker 2

Our active customer base reached 12,000,000 with more than 300,000 drives during the quarter. With the 77,500,000 orders, the order frequency reached 8.1, marking 57% growth year on year for the quarter. We continue to invest in our technology. Coupled with our outstanding service quality. This suggests the potential for higher customer engagement on our platform.

Speaker 2

Next slide, please. We greatly value our wide merchant base. They benefit from our full array of services, including fulfillment, logistics and advertising solutions and enjoy greater efficiency while working with us. In the second quarter, our active merchant base exceeded 101,000 merchants, and total SKUs rose by 50% year on year to nearly 195,000,000 We continue to invest in our in house merchant application that facilitates proactive campaign and ad management and customer communication, among many other capabilities. Our merchant ad has a solid rating at the store, and its ease of use increases the merchant appreciation of hep C.

Speaker 2

BURRADEA. Next slide please. As ever, we diligently execute on our priorities. Our results confirm a solid execution of our strategy. We maintain our competitive edge, grow sustainably and profitably as seen in our numbers.

Speaker 2

So let me recap on our strategy, which I shared earlier this year. Firstly, hep C. BURRATA premium program, The key to increasing customer loyalty is advancing its plan. We welcome the rising share of program numbers in our total orders. Secondly, we cultivate sustainable differentiators such as affordability solutions, excellent platform and delivery services that effectively benefit our customers.

Speaker 2

Thirdly, our efforts to streamline costs and FineTune core operations are well on track. This is reinforced by our progress in the quarter. Last but not least, our logistics services and fintech solutions for 3rd party continue to generate additional revenue streams, while supporting the growth of Turkey's total retail market. Next, take a A closer look at the fundamentals of our Hepse Puroda premium program, which marked its 1st anniversary in July. Through a net addition of 500,000 in the first half of the year, total program numbers reached 1,300,000.

Speaker 2

Our initiative has advanced customer loyalty, providing operational efficiency and optimizing our marketing spend. Premium program numbers generate 1.4 times the monthly order frequency after joining the program, confirming us as their go to e commerce platform. This quarter, we further enriched the programs offering, which has already been more advantageous compared to our competitors, as shown on the right side of the slide side by side. By including summer special deals and exclusive campaigns, the program's value proposition has become even more attractive. Has the program strong NPS scores the confidence and appreciation of its numbers?

Speaker 2

It is clear that affordability has gained significance in the current macroeconomic climate in Turkey. Therefore, setting us apart is our in house fintech strength that redefines the affordability in the e commerce sector. We leverage our unique e money and payment services license to offer a set of payment solutions. These include our own debit card, buy now, pay later solution as well as top up to wallet and point of sale shopping law. Within seconds, our customers are able to check their buy now, pay later limits, complete their purchases at their convenience.

Speaker 2

Collaboration is at our core. We integrate with strategic banking partners. We enable seamless transactions. A variety of options means convenience and freedom of choice for our customers. We will continue to tailor our solution, such as the upcoming launch of in house consumer financing that will better respond to the customer needs in Turkey.

Speaker 2

Now let's take a look at the metrics of our affordability solutions and wallet penetration. On a quarterly addition of 700,000, the HepziPay wallet base shared 12,500,000. In Q2, these users accounted for 86% of our GMV. On the affordability front, the share of total non core affordability solutions in our GMV reached 5%. This is slightly down due to tight liquidity in market, but starting in July, we started to see already recovery in bank's lending appetite.

Speaker 2

Covered in debt ratio, our BNPI solution had been utilized by over 207,000 users by end of Q2 on a quarterly rise of 27,000. In the 1st 6 months, our calculations proved that our BNPL offering contributed positively also to our net income. Now moving on to our next strong muscle, it's HepziJet. HepciJet is one of the leading last mile delivery companies in Turkey, which has an asset light business model. Hep Cipurada continued offering its competitive services, including oversized delivery that differentiates us in the market.

Speaker 2

Swift and timely delivery is a core customer expectation. And so HepziJet's 83% next day delivery ratio among 1P orders to confirm our commitment to this. Meanwhile, Hepzijet continued its penetration of our merchant base, delivering around 66 Based on the surveys conducted in the Q2, Hepsijet also maintained its clear NPS leadership. In pursuit of profitability, we delivered yet another quarter of positive EBITDA fueled by our core strength and cost management. Our fundamental building blocks of sustainable and profitable growth have translated into now approval results.

Speaker 2

Notably, our EBITDA as a percentage of GMV continues to improve from 1.2% a quarter ago, unadjusted for inflation. We remain committed to this path given its promising trajectory so far. As you know, offering our best in class last mile delivery services and our payment and lending services to other retailers is the 4th and large killer pillar of our strategy. Hepci Jet, a logistic powerhouse, lies at the heart of the sandbaver. To that end, the share of external consumer volume in HepziJet's operations increased by 26 percent year over year in units.

Speaker 2

Now it reached 27% of total HepziJet business in this quarter. HepziJet served nearly 1600 external customers with some of the names international and local leading brands you see on the chart. I believe Hepzijet is the best position to build on this momentum and grow its shares in logistics market. Now let me elaborate on the next slide, which is HepziPay. HepziPay is on route to become leading fintech player in Turkey.

Speaker 2

In Q2, we released several noteworthy new services, including HepziPay debit card, which provides frictionless physical and online transactions. We started payments with QR for SWIP off platform transaction, and we launched wallet top up with loans for financial flexibility. This capability adheres to our always full wallet motto. Additionally, we introduced OneClick Checkout Integration on another retailer towards building the pay with Hebsi Pay proposition. The envisaged growth in OneClick Checkout integrations will become instrumental in Hebsi Pay's soft platform expansion.

Speaker 2

In addition, Hebsi Pay has taken strategic steps towards solidifying its position in the fintech arena. We built a 5 year strategic collaboration with Visa in relation to its prepaid Karski. We invested in a leading payment orchestration Form in Turkey, Craftgate Technology. Craftgate helps e commerce companies easily integrate and manage the virtual point of sale of banks and Imani Institutions from a single platform. Our investment in Craftgate is aligned with our vision of leading the Financial Technologies Markets in Turkey, and we believe that it will further foster the growth of our e commerce partners.

Speaker 2

Overall, Hepzi pays solid 12,500,000 wallet base and most diverse affordability solution, its own loyalty program, Fast and reliable one clinic checkout we offer to other sellers and our strategic alliances create huge competitive advantage and this is enabling us to become the leading fintech player in Turkey. I'll end my presentation now with our guidance. Despite the ongoing macroeconomic challenges, we expect continued solid GMV growth of around 110% year on year compared to same quarter of last year unadjusted for inflation. We base this expectation on our service quality, affordability solutions and our effective loyalty program. Our positive EBITDA trend will continue, and we expect to deliver EBITDA as a percentage of GMV within the range of 0.5% to 1%.

Speaker 2

These figures are unadjusted for inflation. Looking ahead, we are poised to print full year positive unadjusted EBITDA in 2023. This is underscoring our commitment to sustainable and profitable growth. With this, I thank you for listening and leave the floor to our CFO, Cor Hannu, to give more color to our financial performance in the Q2. Thank you.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Niran, and welcome, everyone. We gave a robust performance across all metrics during the Q2. This performance was achieved despite election uncertainty, now over and ongoing macroeconomic challenges. On adjusted for inflation, our GMV more than doubled in Q2 on a yearly basis to TRY 18,500,000,000. Similarly, our IAS 29 unadjusted revenue also more than doubled on a yearly basis.

Speaker 3

When adjusted for inflation, GMV and revenue growth were both at 43%. GMV growth resulted from over 27,500,000 orders, marking around 95% year over year growth. Gross contribution margin came in at 10.4%. Adjusted for inflation, this metric rose 9.3% on a 4.4 percentage point improvement on a yearly basis. Q2 was the 2nd consecutive quarter for positive EBITDA unadjusted for inflation.

Speaker 3

Accordingly, Our EBITDA as a percentage of GMV reached 2% on a 4.7 percentage point rise year over year. Excluding the positive impact of TL 105,000,000 Competition Board investigation provision reversal, Our EBITDA as a percentage of GMV was at 1.5%. Also adjusted for inflation, this metric was at 0.3 percent on a 6.5 percentage point improvement. In the 1st 6 months, Our revenue growth and gross contribution margin were at 29% and 9.3%, respectively, adjusted for inflation. Our EBITDA as a percentage of GMV was 0.2% adjusted for both the one off and inflation.

Speaker 3

We generated TRY 881,000,000 net income this quarter, up from a net loss of TRY 7 TRY 83,000,000 in Q2 2022. This resulted from TRY 975,000,000 improvement in EBITDA, TRY 583 million increase in net financial income and TRY 170 million monetary gain in Q2 2023, against TRY 64,000,000 increase in depreciation and amortization. On the next slide, let's to elaborate on our progress towards profitability. 43% of g and d growth came through 27,500,000 orders in Q2. This performance is a result of our value proposition supported by the hep C.

Speaker 3

BURRATA Premium Loyalty Program and our Affordability Solutions. Our digital products contribute to the order frequency of participating customer segments. Yet excluding these orders, our order growth was still around 20%. During the Q2, we saw a 3.1 percentage point shift in G and D mix towards 3P to 67%. 1P operations remain among the key competitive advantages.

Speaker 3

On the next slide, I will discuss our revenue and gross contribution performance. First, some details on our revenues. Around 63% revenue growth was achieved mainly by 32 increase in retail revenue and then 87% growth in marketplace revenue. Our retail and marketplace operations comprise 88% of our revenues. Our delivery service revenue, comprising 9.2% of total revenue, rose 67% compared to Q2 2022.

Speaker 3

Meanwhile, other revenue, which mainly consists of our advertising services, fulfillment services and loyalty program subscription fees tripled compared to Q2 2022. Our gross contribution margin in the 2nd quarter was 9.3% with a remarkable improvement of 4.4 percentage points compared to the same quarter last year. This was mainly attributable to lower quarterly inflation impact on the cost of inventory sold and better inventory management and change in G and D category mix. Let's move to EBITDA performance on the next slide. Continued G and D and top line growth, our focus on cost and marketing campaign optimization enabled us to deliver for another quarter.

Speaker 3

The 7 percentage point year over year improvement in EBITDA as a Percentage of GMV was mainly due to a 4.4 percentage point rise in gross contribution margin, 1.6 percentage point decline in advertising expenses, 1 percentage point improvement in other OpEx items, which includes the 0.5 percentage point positive impact of the provision reversal. OpEx as a percentage of G and D was of 8.5% in this quarter, thus 2.6 percentage points lower compared to 11.1% in the Q2 of last year. Overall efficiency in marketing spend was achieved through our win through loyalty strategy, data driven marketing and core marketing partnership. Next, a few words on our cash flow dynamics. Compared to Q2 2022, the TRY 1,000,000,000 decrease in cash flow from operating activities mainly resulted from TRY 782,000,000 decrease in change in inventories.

Speaker 3

In addition, we made a TRY 283,000,000 payment to to the litigation case. We continue to operate with negative net working capital during the Q2. The TRY 1,700,000,000 change in negative net working capital was mainly driven by a decrease in trade payables due to payments in Q2 as a result of higher inventory procurements and for some, bit shorter payment terms. An increase in inventories due to plant procurement in Q2 and a decrease in provisions due to payment to an escrow account in relation to U. S.

Speaker 3

Litigation settlement and the closure of the competition authority investigation. CapEx was around TRY 100 and TRY76 million. Overall, our free cash flow was negative TRY607 million in Q2 2023. Before we end our call, I would like to highlight the 5 main points of our presentation today. We delivered better than expected EBITDA through stronger top line growth and diligent cost management.

Speaker 3

We continue executing on our well defined The 4.4 percentage point improvement in our gross contribution margin and 7 percentage point rise in EBITDA as a percentage of GMV has given us confidence for the second half. We generated a net income at TRY 881,000,000 through improved EBITDA, strong financial income and monetary gain. Our strong muscles, including logistics and fintech services, suggest additional revenue streams for our company. In the second half of the year, we will continue to work diligently to deliver best possible results, creating long term value for all our stakeholders. Thank you for listening.

Speaker 3

We can now open the line for questions.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the question and answer session. The first question comes from the line of Quilekiran Hazate with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Hello. Thank you very much for the presentation and congratulations for very strong numbers. I want to follow-up with your guidance for the 3rd quarter. It is a very strong growth as expected inflation, I think it's Around 65%. So I'm trying to understand the drivers behind this accelerated GME guidance for the 3rd quarter.

Speaker 4

And also, are you seeing I mean, substantial increase in the share of nonelectronics in the GMV mix also in the Q3. 2nd question, we really appreciate if you can comment around the competitive environment in the Q3, particularly from the perspective of the discounts in the market. And finally, on the numbers, How would you guide the working capital progress for the Q3 after the buildup of inventory in the Q2? Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

Thank you so much, Hamzade. Let me answer the first three, and I'll let Corhan to give some color for our working capital So in terms of guidance, we are expecting our growth momentum to continue to accelerate behind our 4 strategies. The number 1 is Hepzi Purada Premium Program. This program has been quite strong as we celebrate its 1st anniversary. The more we build members to the program, the more we have Frequency increase and it will accelerate momentum in Q3.

Speaker 2

That's number 1. The second is the need for affordability solutions. As the inflation and macroeconomic context evolves, partly inflation triggers consumption, but partly It also has an impact on the need for more affordability solution. So we also believe that we have a strategic advantage with the variety of solutions we provide for the consumers. I also believe that our B2B business, which is The bigger one being Hepdige and Fintech in development is also going to continue their acceleration on that.

Speaker 2

And I think all in all, We feel comfortable in accelerating the growth momentum. In terms of your second question, money electronics mix, It is not specifically rely our growth expectation and our growth guidance doesn't rely on just non It's something we feel quite strategic about. As we build more loyalty with the program, we are adding more non electronics into the mix, But Q3 specifically is back to school season. There will be an impact of absolutely a lot of electronics purchases with laptops, both for school segment. So we don't specifically expect a jump for Q3, I think your first question was on the competitive environment.

Speaker 2

So competition environment is always vivid in Turkey. There are we have Strong competition, global competition from Amazon and Alibaba, which is tranual in Turkey. We also have now N11, which is coming back With some purchase emphasis on Turkish market from Getere as well. I think It's going to be continue to be competitive, but e commerce market in Turkey, we shouldn't forget it only has 70% penetration And there is significant momentum to still improve and create category creation for e commerce. And despite the context to the environment, I believe in our strength, which is quite different than unique.

Speaker 2

We are from Turkey. We are very agile. We understand the And the values of our 4 pillar strategy does resonate very well. So I think we'll continue to deliver value for our customers and our shareholders. Now I want to hand over to Corjan for Investor Relations.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Nirjan. Hamzade, as you know, From history, there is a seasonality in our business. And especially in the second half, with back to school period, there is a campaign period starting, continues with the Black Friday and December period. So we will continue generating more GMVs in the second half and consequently, This will improve our net working capital. And as usual, we will continue to generate better net working capital in the second half and improve our free cash flow going forward.

Speaker 4

Thank you very much. I want to make a follow-up on the competition side. So the market is still very competitive, but Does it put some sort of pressure on your commission rates in the 3rd quarter because we observed

Speaker 2

Thank you, Expectation, Hamzah, they're seeing the trend in Turkey as well. I think our plan is strong. That's why we are giving still a Strong guidance on EBITDA, which is between 0.1% to 1%. We don't have Expectations beyond what is happening today, and I feel comfortable in the guidance we have given. Okay.

Speaker 2

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. The conference is now concluded and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling and have a good afternoon.

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Key Takeaways

  • Hepsiburada achieved a 94.6% year-over-year GMV increase in Q2 2023, processing 77.5 million orders and more than doubling its GMV compared to Q2 2022.
  • Profitability improved significantly with a 10.4% gross contribution margin (up 200 bps YoY) and an EBITDA margin of 2.0% of GMV (1.5% excluding a one-off provision reversal), both exceeding guidance.
  • The active customer base grew to 12 million, bolstered by the HepşiPurada Premium program which now has 1.3 million members delivering 1.4× higher order frequency and stronger retention.
  • Fintech and logistics services remain growth engines: HepziPay wallets reached 12.5 million users (86% GMV share) and BNPL adoption rose to over 207 000 users, while HepziJet’s next-day delivery rate was 83% and third-party volume climbed to 27% of its business.
  • Looking ahead to Q3 2023, the company guides for around 110% GMV growth year-over-year and an EBITDA margin of 0.5–1.0% of GMV, aiming for full-year positive unadjusted EBITDA.
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Earnings Conference Call
D-Market Elektronik Hizmetler ve Ticaret A.S. Q2 2023
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