Singapore property portals face double-edged sword in regional expansion

Singapore

REAL estate portals in Singapore are being squeezed by hefty costs on the one hand and the lack of scale on the other, but the solution they seek - looking to the region for scale - may add further short-term pain.

PropertyGuru's short-lived journey towards an initial public offering in Australia last month had laid bare the financials of the market leader in the portal space in South-east Asia. And it showed the online property classified marketplace incurring a net loss of S$3.8 million on a revenue of S$71.5 million in 2018, on a pro forma basis.

Financial statements obtained by The Business Times (BT) of other portal companies here also showed a similar trend.

The second largest player, 99.co, suffered net losses of S$6.8 million on a mere revenue of S$2.3 million, while StreetSine slipped just slightly into the red with a net loss of S$521,453 (see clarification note) on a reve…