Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby open the 10th Annual General Meeting of Scout24 SE. As Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I take the chair of this meeting in accordance with our Articles of Association. On behalf of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board, I would like to welcome you, dear shareholders, shareholder representatives, and all other spectators cordially. Ladies and gentlemen, it continues to be important to us to offer you the opportunity for a personal dialogue with the Management Board and the Supervisory Board at an Annual General Meeting held in person. I'm therefore delighted that you're taking advantage of this opportunity, and that I can welcome you here in Munich today.
We aim to continue holding the Annual General Meeting as a physical meeting, and accordingly, no use is to be made of the proposed extension of the authorization to hold a virtual Annual General Meeting under Agenda Item 11 unless special circumstances make this appear necessary in exceptional cases. Moreover, the proposed new authorization foresees that the Management Board can only call such a virtual meeting with the approval of the Supervisory Board. The Annual General Meeting today will be broadcast in its entirety for all shareholders and shareholders' representatives via our password-protected online service. Until the answering of your questions during the general discussion, the broadcast of the Annual General Meeting will also be available to the public on the internet via the Investor Relations section of the Scout24 SE website.
First, I would like to briefly introduce you to the people sitting next to me, as well as the members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. Two seats to my right. From your perspective, we have Notary Public Professor Hartmut Wicke. Professor Wicke will take the notarial recording of today's Annual General Meeting as in previous years. I would also like to introduce you to Mr. Martin Hitzer next to me. He's a lawyer and partner at the law firm Gleiss Lutz, and he will support me today as a legal advisor. Welcome, Professor Wicke. Welcome, Mr. Hitzer. I would like to briefly introduce you to our Management Board, all the members of which are present today. From your left, you will see our new CEO, Ralf Weitz, our CFO, Dr. Dirk Schmelzer, and our Chief Commercial Officer, Dr. Gesa Crockford, at the end of the roster.
I will go into more details on the changes in the composition of the Management Board since the last AGM later, particularly regarding the appointment of Ralf Weitz as CEO on the 1st of March 2025. Unfortunately, Zuhal Özkan and André Schwemmlein of the Supervisory Board cannot attend today in person due to urgent commitments. However, they are following the Annual General Meeting via the online service. The other members of the Supervisory Board are all present, and apart from me, they're in front of me here in the audience, and these are Frank Lutz, Maja Miteva, and Andrea Auerheim. In the event that I'm unable to continue chairing the meeting, even if only temporarily, the Supervisory Board decided in accordance with the Articles of Association that my deputy, Frank Lutz, would take over the chairmanship of the meeting. Now let's come to the formal determinations.
Today's AGM was convened in due form and time by announcement in the Federal Gazette on the 16th of April 2025. The convocation notice was sent to appropriate information media for EU-wide distribution on the same day, and the confirmation of the Federal Gazette on the publication of the convocation notice, as well as the confirmation of the forwarding to the information media for EU-wide distribution, will be recorded by the Notary Public. They can also be viewed at the Request to Speak table. This Request to Speak table is located here at the front on your left. The convocation notice with the agenda and the proposals of the Management and Supervisory Board for resolution were communicated to the shareholders, intermediaries, and shareholder associations in accordance with Section 125 of the German Stock Corporation Act.
The documents to be made accessible have been available on the company's website since the convening of the meeting and are available for inspection at the Request to Speak table. There you can also view the amended application of profits proposal for agenda item two. The company did not receive any requests to add to the agenda or counter proposals or nominations to be made available. Ladies and gentlemen, you've registered at the entrance with your admission ticket. Your admission ticket is also your voting card for today. Should you have received multiple admission tickets, please note the following. Only if all admission tickets have been registered, the entire shareholding you represent can be included in the attendee list and take part in the vote. If you have not yet registered all your admission tickets, you can do so at the entrance until the start of the voting procedure.
If you wish to leave the meeting, you can authorize the proxies of the company or a third party to exercise the voting rights from your shares. In this case, please contact our staff at the shareholders' reception, the foyer, who will be happy to explain the necessary procedure to you. If you leave the meeting early and do not wish to authorize anyone, please hand in your admission tickets at the shareholders' reception so that the attendee list can be updated accordingly. The in-person area consists of this hall, the so-called Europasaal, and the foyer, including the restrooms. The speeches will also be broadcast over loudspeakers to the foyer and the restrooms. However, it's only possible to request a floor and to hand in voting cards during the voting process in this room.
The attendee list is currently being set up, and after completion, I will announce the attendance, and a copy of the attendee list will be displayed at the Request to Speak table. Changes to the attendee list will be recorded in supplements and communicated at the relevant points in time. Copies of those amendments will also be available for inspection at the Request to Speak table. If you would like to take part in the discussion, I would ask you to register your request at the Request to Speak table beforehand. Please show your admission ticket when doing so. If you want to make a motion or submit a voting nomination, I would ask you to announce it in writing together with your Request to Speak or to ask the staff at the Request to Speak table that they include it into your request.
This will allow us to ensure that the motion is recorded in due form. For legal reasons, however, you have to still submit motions orally as part of your verbal contributions. Written recording is not sufficient. Today's Annual General Meeting will not be taken down in shorthand. However, the Management Board can be supported by stenographers when it comes to recording questions asked. With the exception of the introductory statement by the Supervisory Board and the speech of the CEO, the Annual General Meeting will not be recorded in video or audio media. The microphones and cameras set up here in the meeting room are used exclusively for sound in this room as well as in the foyer and the restrooms, then for the online transmission of the introductory statements and the transmission of the entire Annual General Meeting via the password-protected online service and to the back office.
No audio or video recordings of the Annual General Meeting must be made starting from the beginning of the decision discussion. In addition, I would ask you to turn off or mute your mobile phones so that we can hold our Annual General Meeting undisturbed. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now enter into the agenda. I will start with my comments on the report of the Supervisory Board, and following my remarks, the Board of Management will present its report. Then we will have the discussion, and after the discussion has ended, the voting will take place. That takes me to the report of the Supervisory Board. The year 2024 was and the year 2025 is marked by important milestones and developments. For Scout24 SE, 2024 was another very successful year despite a still challenging environment.
In line with the strategy developed by the Management Board and intensively discussed with the Supervisory Board, one focus was on interconnectivity of our offers for our customers. In the future, all parties involved in a real estate transaction will benefit from an even better link between real estate listings and additional data and services from our digital ecosystem. The development of our KPIs was very encouraging in the 2024 financial year once again. Let me talk about the most important key figures before the Management Board will report to you on this in detail. Sales increased by double digits for the fourth consecutive year by 11.2% to EUR 566.3 million. This very positive development was largely driven by continuously increasing demand for the core products of our main subsidiary, ImmobilienScout24. This development underlines the strength of our business model, especially given the continued subdued transaction environment.
Profitability has also developed excellently. Thanks to increased operational efficiency and a high margin sales distribution, the EBITDA margin for ordinary operations improved year on year by 1.8 percentage points to 61.5%, while adjusted earnings per share rose by 15% to EUR 2.90. This outstanding operational performance was also rewarded by the capital market. With a remarkable price increase of around 33%, the Scout24 share performed extremely positively in 2024 after having already increased by 37% in the year 2023. The Scout24 share significantly outperformed the DAX's annual performance of plus 18.9% and of the MDAX performance of minus 5.7%. The dividend is also considered an important indicator for the success of a company. For the past financial year 2024, the Management Board and Supervisory Board proposed a dividend of EUR 1.32 per share, an increase of 10% compared to the previous year.
This is the third consecutive year of double-digit dividend growth. Ladies and gentlemen, let us now take a look at the main priorities of the work of the Supervisory Board in the past year. The Supervisory Board continuously monitored the company's development and focused specifically on future topics of strategic importance: the further development of the interconnectivity strategy, the sustainability strategy, and the use of artificial intelligence in the product portfolio. The Supervisory Board paid particular attention to the company's M&A activities. The Supervisory Board actively supported the company's M&A projects and the associated process. For all projects requiring approval, the Supervisory Board made well-considered decisions after intensive discussions and consultations and approved of all the acquisitions. A key focus of the Supervisory Board's work was the continuous monitoring and support of the business strategy.
The Supervisory Board regularly reviewed the market and competitive situation and the strategic direction of the company. The focus was on the interconnectivity of the platform and on the integration of new technologies. The Supervisory Board intensively discussed and monitored important product topics such as the further development of the Property Hub and the use of AI to improve search results and to increase market transparency. These measures have helped to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction. Another central aspect of the Supervisory Board's work was the company's sustainability strategy. On the one hand, the Supervisory Board supported the implementation of product innovations to promote energy efficiency and the modernization of housing. For example, Scout24 can now provide sustainability-related metrics and information to our customers with the help of AI and data-driven products.
The close cooperation between the Management Board and the Supervisory Board has also contributed to further developing the high standards in corporate governance, to ensuring the long-term competitiveness, and to achieving the company's sustainability goals. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the central tasks of every Supervisory Board is personnel decisions concerning the Management Board. We are very pleased to announce that we've been able to appoint Ralf Weitz for a further five-year term and as the new Chairman of the Management Board starting March 1, 2025. This decision was preceded by a comprehensive succession planning process in which Ralf Weitz emerged as the perfect candidate for the role of CEO. Ralf Weitz has made a significant contribution to Scout24's success in various management positions since 2008, and as CEO, he will consistently continue and further develop the company's strategic direction.
The Supervisory Board and Ralf Weitz have enjoyed a trusting and intensive collaboration for many years. Dear Ralf, at this point, on behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to once again wish you all the best, every success, and good luck in your new role as CEO. We look forward to continuing to work with you and the entire management team. As you know, Ralf Weitz succeeds Tobias Hartmann, who was not available for another term of office for personal reasons and who will hopefully be listening to this AGM today. At this point, I would like to once again thank Tobias Hartmann on behalf of the entire Supervisory Board for his tremendous success and the extraordinary achievements for the company over the past years. Thank you very much, Tobias.
Already at last year's Annual General Meeting, following a focused and detailed selection process, we were able to introduce Dr. Gesa Crockford at the end of the table as a new member of the Management Board in the position of Chief Commercial Officer, which she has held since April 1, 2024. Another key task is the preparation of the Supervisory Board's own personnel decisions. In the fiscal year 2024, we welcomed Andrea Auerheim, who's sitting in the first row, as the successor to Dr. Elke Frank. Andrea Auerheim enriches our board as an experienced HR expert with profound experience from her career in listed international corporations in the digital B2C and B2B environment. She has extensive expertise in global mergers and acquisitions, as well as in the scaling of high-growth technology companies. With Andrea Auerheim, we've purposefully expanded and significantly completed the Supervisory Board's range of expertise.
She has already contributed her expertise extensively over the past year, both in the process of succeeding Tobias Hartmann and in the further development of the Management Board's remuneration system, which has been submitted to you today for approval. At the same time, the Annual General Meeting 2024 extended the term of office of the remaining members of the Supervisory Board until the Annual General Meeting 2028. Each individual member of the Supervisory Board is committed to your Scout24 in a special way. This commitment is reflected in particular in the intensive and constructive cooperation both within the board as a whole, but also in the individual committees. It is also demonstrated by an exceptionally high level of meeting attendance, once again, which reached 97% in the past financial year. During today's election, the Supervisory Board proposes a new candidate to you for personal and professional reasons.
Sahla Fattah has decided to no longer serve as a member of the Supervisory Board, and she has therefore resigned from her position with effect from the end of this Annual General Meeting on best terms with the company and the Supervisory Board. We regret the premature departure of Sahla Fattah and thank her for her commitment and valuable work, and we wish her all the best for the future. At the same time, we are delighted that we can present to you, dear shareholders, after an intensive selection process, that we can propose Lutz Finger as an outstandingly qualified candidate for election. Lutz Finger complements the Supervisory Board's skill profile, particularly with regard to artificial intelligence, technology, and data products. His international expertise in the fields of product development, data science, and AI implementation from various industries will support and enrich the work of the Supervisory Board.
He will introduce himself to you personally later on so that you can get to know him. Further information on Lutz Finger's nomination can be found in the agenda of the Annual General Meeting. His CV can be found as Appendix 1 to Agenda Item 7 by election to the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board is also responsible for the remuneration of the Management Board. The Supervisory Board, led by the Remuneration Committee, has subjected the existing system to comprehensive review and compared it with the current market practice. For this comprehensive analysis, we consulted the expertise of a renowned external remuneration consultant. The result was that our current remuneration system largely corresponds to the current market standard. Therefore, we have only further developed the remuneration system in a few selected areas. I would like to highlight the following elements in this.
First, in the long-term incentive, as part of the non-financial strategic objective, we take into account at least one of three ESG objectives. Second, in the future, members of the Management Board appointed for the first time will receive only a pension allowance and not, as previously, a company pension. Third, we are expanding the malice and clawback provisions in the event of incorrect consolidated financial statements, the so-called performance clawback. Fourth, in the future, the Supervisory Board may grant what is called a replacement award to newly appointed members of the Management Board to compensate for variable remuneration forfeited from previous employment relationships. Such a replacement award would be taken into account when determining the maximum permissible remuneration. The Supervisory Board has long gone through governance roadshows to proactively engage with investors on topics relevant to the work of the Supervisory Board.
Most recently, we conducted a governance roadshow in the first quarter of 2025. The valuable feedback we received there has been taken into account in the further development of the remuneration system. Other important topics of the Supervisory Board's work in the 2024 financial year included support and review of M&A transactions and post-merger integration. These include, in particular, the acquisition of Neubau Compass AG and the integration of the Sprengnetter Group. In addition, we comprehensively discussed the further development of the business strategy and the multi-year financial planning with the Management Board during the annual multi-day strategy meeting. We've also focused intensively on the importance of technology and the use of artificial intelligence in product development and in particular on the interconnectivity of our offers for our customers.
Details on this and on the further work of the Supervisory Board can be found in the detailed presentation in the written report of the Supervisory Board and the Management Report on pages 10 to 13. Ladies and gentlemen, that takes me to the end of my report. Before I ask the Management Board to present its report, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all employees of the company and the great appreciation on the part of the entire Supervisory Board. Without your enthusiasm, commitment, creativity, and dedication, the success of our company hasn't been and wouldn't be possible. We are delighted that through our work and the Supervisory Board, we've been able to contribute to laying a strong and, above all, sustainable foundation on which your Scout24 can continue to grow successfully.
Thank you very much, and that takes us to the report of the Management. Dear Ralf, Dirk, you have the floor.
Vielen Dank. Thank you, Hans-Holger. Dear shareholders, dear guests, welcome to our Annual General Meeting. Nice to have you here. A warm welcome also to all shareholder representatives present. My name is Ralf Weitz, and this is my first speech as CEO during the Annual General Meeting of Scout24. On March 1 of this year, I succeeded Tobias Hartmann. Before I discuss our business development, I would like to thank Tobias for the good and trusting cooperation of the last years because together we have set on an important course. I've been with Scout24 for over 17 years and have helped shape the company in various roles. Since 2018, as a member of the Board of Management, since 2023, as Chief Product and Technology Officer.
Throughout all this time, I've experienced the company's developments, changes, and successes up close and helped drive them forward. Together with our fantastic team, I look forward to continuing Scout24's success story. This Annual General Meeting has a special meaning for me, and not just because it's my first as Chairman of the Board, because we're experiencing an extraordinary moment in the history of technology. Artificial intelligence is developing at a rapid pace and revolutionizing the way people interact with technology. What seemed unthinkable just a few years ago is now a reality. During my time as Chief Product Technology Officer, I saw how complex our products can become. For example, through countless filters, complex and interlocking search masks, AI has the potential to completely hide this complexity from our users. This is exactly where our motto for this year, "Raising the Bar," comes in.
It sums up our mission perfectly. We want to continuously improve and set new standards, especially for how people search for and find properties. Scout24 has been operating the leading real estate platform in Germany for years. My goal, and that of the entire team, is that as a technology company, we shape industry trends and lead the way as pioneers, including in the area of AI. 2024 was a good year for us, even though the market remained challenging. Despite interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank, the German economy has not been able to escape from stagnation. The commercial real estate market, in particular, continued to face major challenges in 2024. However, we also saw a number of positive signals in the real estate market last year.
People not only increasingly searched for properties, but also contacted real estate agents and banks to realize their dream of owning their own property more often. Let's look at the figures. The transaction volume rose by around 9% to EUR 220.9 billion. The number of residential property purchase transactions grew by around 13% to 501,500. The construction financing market recovered with an increase of around 23% in new residential home loans for private households. The German real estate market revived last year, albeit at a low level. Also in the first quarter of 2025, the market was on a slight recovery path. However, the outlook for the rest of the year remains uncertain. Rising interest rates and the tense geopolitical situation are causing uncertainty among potential property buyers. There are major challenges that continue to exist in the residential real estate market.
Due to the sharp increase in financing and construction costs, the sector is suffering from a massive slump in new construction activity. According to the Federal Statistic Office, the number of construction completions is at a new low. With 251,900 new apartments built last year and a decrease of 14.4% compared to the previous year, the number is almost at its lowest level since 2015. This continues the negative trend in new construction, unfortunately. At the same time, demand for rental apartments has doubled nationwide within five years, while the population continues to grow. This means increasing competition for fewer and fewer available apartments. The situation is particularly dramatic in areas of high population density. For a two-room apartment in Berlin with 59 sq m, there are currently an average of around 400 inquiries in a very short period of time.
There is no single solution to the strained housing market. This is a Germany-wide problem. The government must create framework conditions so that investing is worthwhile again. The aim is to stimulate new construction and make buying property more attractive again. This is exactly the dynamic environment where we operate, and this is where it shows the strength of our model. Because as a digital, this is the strength of Scout24. Despite all the, our sales increased by 11.2% to EUR 566.3 million. We have thus exceeded our forecast of sales growth of between 9% and 11%. EBITDA from ordinary activities grew by 14.5% to EUR 348.1 million. Our ordinary operating EBITDA margin improved by 1.8 percentage points to 61.5%. With our extensive reach and strong marketing solutions, we have achieved new record numbers among business and private customers.
We've increased the number of commercial customers to over 25,000 and the number of private customers to over 470,000 customers. These figures demonstrate the strength of our business model. Scout24 has been growing continuously for over 25 years, and in the last four years, its sales have increased by double-digit %. You will also receive further information on our 2024 financial figures from our CFO, Dirk Schmelzer. Why has Scout24's concept been working for 25 years? Because we understood early on how important technology is. We didn't just digitize; we rethought the market digitally. From the newspaper ad in 1998 to AI-supported search today. To this end, we have invested more than EUR 300 million in recent years to build up new business areas such as plus memberships for those searching or our services for owners.
A central component of our growth strategy is targeted acquisitions that meaningfully expand our product portfolio. At the beginning of this year, we expanded our real estate data offer with the acquisition of Boll & Giza, a leading provider of appraisal and market data for commercial real estate. We've also expanded our database with Explorial, which is a specialized provider of new construction market data for real estate professionals in Austria. At the end of 2024, Neubau Compass, a digital marketing platform for a new construction project in Germany and Austria, was acquired, as you know. With these acquisitions, we're specifically strengthening our core business of real estate listings. We've grown not only organically, but also through acquisitions. Today, with over 19 million users per month, we are the market leader for digital real estate marketing and search. ImmobilienScout24 is the first choice when searching for real estate.
When it's the first choice. With over 90% support of brand awareness, we are synonymous with online property searches. We offer the best experience and the highest brand awareness. Our database and expertise are unique. We always have one question in mind here. How can we further simplify the use of our services for those searching for owners and agents? Our strategic focus is interconnectivity, as Hans-Holger just explained. That means we connect market participants, those searching, owners, and business customers with the digital products. No other real estate platform does this as consistently as we do. Let's look at some of the key products. A key component of our strategy is called the Property Hub. The Property Hub goes beyond mere property search and is a central contact point for all property-related needs.
It does not matter whether you're using the property as a tenant, owning it, or looking for it as an interested party. These roles are changing. Those searching become tenants or owners. Owners become sellers or landlords. Our goal is to map these different roles and changes in the Property Hub and create a seamless connection between them. In this way, we bring the world of those searching, tenants, owners, and sellers closer together and create a platform that connects all aspects of real estate. Users can already conveniently manage their properties digitally, retrieve information, and access a wide range of services, from market analyses and appraisals to tailor-made financing solutions. You can also rent or sell your property with us. In the future, we will develop further innovative products that meet the needs of each target group.
At the beginning of every product, there will always be the question, how can artificial intelligence help us make our products even better and more effective and create a unique user experience? The central starting point for the Property Hub remains our property search on ImmobilienScout24, which we have further personalized and optimized over the past year. Our new search combines a list view and an interactive map, which significantly speeds up the process of finding and pairing suitable offers. With one click, those searching have access to the price map with comprehensive information on forecasts, on purchase prices, and rents. By using artificial intelligence, our users can also search beyond predefined filters using voice control, similar to describing their search to a real person.
For example, you can tell ML Scout by voice command, "I'm looking for a two-room apartment in Munich, Schwabing, for EUR 1,800." You will then be shown the result list with all properties matching your search criteria. The AI understands queries made in natural language, sets existing filters for the user, and provides matches. With this, we have taken digital property searches in Germany to a new level with artificial intelligence. We are the first provider in the German real estate market to offer such an innovation. This is just the beginning. The AI Wohnvision offers a further improved search experience and additional inspiration when looking for a new home. With this new AI-supported feature, the rooms shown in a property can be virtually redesigned with just one click.
This allows users to see how their future home could look in different interior design styles, from modern to Scandinavian to industrial. In the long term, this will open up new revenue potential, for example, through the possible integration of external furniture suppliers. We also expect the extended time spent on the exposé to result in more contact inquiries, a clear advantage for our commercial customers. The feature is free and is automatically provided in all suitable exposés. With the optimized property search, we ensure that those searching can engage with the properties even more intensively. We also further expand our offer for commercial customers in 2024. In March last year, we introduced new memberships for brokers, bronze, silver, and gold. The memberships are tailored to the changing needs of brokers and the current market environment. The bronze membership is designed purely for marketing purposes.
The Silver Membership offers efficient marketing and acquisition services, thus supporting the acquisition of new mandates. Gold Membership includes all Bronze and Silver benefits, as well as exclusive data, a growth package including a cost calculator for energy-efficient modernization, and a continuing education subscription to Germany's leading digital real estate academy. We have also integrated what we call MO Points into our new membership, which our commercial customers can use to book additional products to increase their visibility. Not only top rankings can be secured with MO Points. With them, our broker clients can also book energy performance certificates, property appraisals, and in the future, floor plans. This gives them full flexibility. What all these innovations have in common is that they make our customers' lives easier.
So far, we've mainly talked about our products and figures, but there's something else that is very important to me, which is our responsibility as a company. One milestone last year was the reduction of our CO2 footprint. By 2024, we had already reduced our CO2 emissions by 56% compared to the base year 2018. We've achieved this progress through, among other things, the electrification of our vehicle fleet and measures to increase heat efficiency. In the future, we will focus primarily on further reducing the emissions of our vehicle fleet and switching entirely to electricity from renewable energy sources in all offices. Another important milestone is achieving gender parity in the workforce by the end of 2025. At the end of last year, already 46% of our employees were female.
Around 41% of management positions were held by women, which are great figures for a digital company and well above the national and international average. We recognize that diversity and inclusion are an ongoing process. We're delighted with the visible success of the past year and will continue along this path. In our current sustainability statement, we provide all stakeholders with comprehensive insight into our key environmental, social, and governance activities. Our declaration meets the requirements of the current European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. We have thus implemented a high reporting standard and are well prepared for future changes. For 2024, what's next? Where are we and where do we want to go? With our clear strategy, our diversified product portfolio, and our strong market position, we are ideally positioned to continue our course for growth.
With ML Scout24, we operate in a market that still offers considerable growth potential. We will consistently implement and expand our strategy with a focus on interconnectivity. That is, we will connect those searching, owners, and business customers even more closely. This is definitely something that makes us unique. No other ad platform in the world has achieved this like this. A key pillar here is, as I already mentioned, the Property Hub, which comprehensively maps the life cycle of a property. We continue to invest in technology, especially AI, because it makes our products noticeably better, easier to use, smarter, and more helpful. Our goal is to automate processes and create more personalized offers. Again, 2024 was a good year for Scout24, and we owe this to our team, people who work every day to make our products better.
I would like to say a heartfelt thank you for that. I would also like to thank you, our shareholders, for your trust and support. Scout24 is on a very good path, and I look forward to continuing on this path together with you. I would now like to hand over to our Chief Financial Officer, Dirk Schmelzer, who will guide you through the 2024 financial figures. Thank you very much for your attention.
Ja, vielen Dank. Thank you, Ralf. Also, on my part, dear shareholders, a warm welcome to this year's annual general meeting. You've already heard a lot about the advantages and uniqueness of our business model. I'm pleased to be able to report to you how successfully we concluded the past financial year with this business model and how this development has continued at the beginning of the new financial year.
You all know that the real estate market has faced major challenges in recent years. As you've just learned from Ralf Weitz, transaction activity has recovered somewhat, but still slowly. The framework conditions, therefore, remain challenging for many market participants. This is exactly where Scout24 comes in. We have a broadly diversified product portfolio for almost every market constellation, tailored to the specific needs of the market participants. It is in this market situation that our core business of agent memberships and plus products has once again proven to be a reliable growth driver. A networking strategy with a comprehensive digital ecosystem for all players in the real estate market is paying off. We can therefore, once again, look back on a very successful financial year that was characterized by double-digit growth rates in turnover and result.
In the following, I would like to discuss some of the key figures, key findings in more detail. Overall, we were able to generate group turnover of EUR 566.3 million in the Scout24 group. This represents an increase of 11.2% over the previous year and makes the fourth consecutive year of double-digit sales growth. Before deducting taxes, interest, depreciation, and amortization, the ordinary operating EBITDA was at EUR 348.1 million. This represents an increase of 14.5% compared to the previous year. The corresponding EBITDA margin of 61.5% increased significantly by 1.8 percentage points for the full year and reflects our clear focus on increasing profitability. Particularly noteworthy is the development of operating cash flow, which increased by 27.9% to EUR 257.0 million. The adjusted net result rose by a strong 14.1% to EUR 212.2 million. Let's now take a closer look at the development of our two business segments.
We adjusted our segment structure in the second half of 2024 and fully integrated the former media and other segment into the professional segment. This new structure now better reflects our business logic and our growth strategy with a focus on interconnectivity. Both segments contributed to the strong result. As mentioned at the beginning, our core business with broker memberships and the professional segment and the plus products in the private segment were the main growth drivers. In the professional segment, sales increased by 10.7% to EUR 409.9 million. Particularly satisfying is the increase in the number of business customers by 2.4% to 24,625. The average revenue per customer, the ARPU, improved by 7% to EUR 1,001. In the private customer segment, sales increased even more significantly by 12.7% to EUR 156.4 million.
This growth was driven in particular by an impressive increase in the number of private customers by 24.3% to 444,766. The average revenue per customer, so the ARPU, remained largely stable with a slight increase of 0.8% to EUR 17. These developments not only reflect the changed situation on the real estate market, but also the high added value that Scout24 products offer market participants. The positive development of the 2024 financial year continued seamlessly into the first quarter of 2025. Continued strong demand for our memberships and both segments continued to drive growth. The operating figures were in line with our expectations and confirm that our strategy is convincing even in a challenging market environment. Let's take a look at the concrete figures. In the first quarter of 2025, we increased group sales by 15.8% to EUR 157.6 million.
Organic growth reached 12.1% hereby, exceeding the already strong momentum of the fourth quarter of 2024. What is particularly satisfying is that we were able to achieve new records in customer numbers in both segments. The number of our business customers in the professional segment increased by 5.9% to 25,601, while in the private segment, we achieved even stronger growth of 19.8% to 495,150 customers. These increasing customer numbers are directly reflected in our financial figures. EBITDA from ordinary activities grew disproportionately by 17.9% to EUR 93.7 million. As a result, the corresponding EBITDA margin improved by one percentage point to 59.5%. This is despite the integration of acquisitions with lower profitability. At EUR 58.4 million, our operating cash flow remained stable at a strong level. At the same time, the adjusted net result developed very positively, growing by 16.2% to EUR 57.1 million.
This resulted in adjusted earnings per share increasing by 17.9% to EUR 0.79. These figures impressively demonstrate that our strategy with its focus on interconnectivity is working and that we are well on our way to meeting our forecast for the 2025 financial year. Let me now turn to our earnings development in 2024. The advantages of our business model are particularly evident in the operational area. As you can see here, we were able to achieve revenue growth with a moderate increase in our cost base, which led to significant economies of scale. The operating result grew significantly above average compared to sales. The ordinary operating EBITDA margin increased from 59.7% in 2023 to 61.5% in 2024. That is an increase of 1.8 percentage points. This means we have achieved an impressive overall margin increase of 5.4 percentage points since 2023.
Non-operating effects increased significantly by 85.9% to EUR 46.9 million, primarily due to higher share-based remuneration following the strong share price performance. In addition, there was a lower financial result, partly due to the good operational development of our subsidiary, Sprengnetter, which moreover led to higher non-operating expenses for performance-related purchase price components. Despite these essentially very positive developments, we were able to increase the adjusted net result by 14.1% to EUR 212.2 million, resulting in adjusted earnings per share of EUR 2.90, an increase of 15%. You see, 2024 was another record year for Scout24, and our strategy is paying off. For you, dear shareholders, this success is reflected in an attractive dividend. The proposed dividend of EUR 1.32 per share for the 2024 financial year is 10% higher than in the previous year, which is a double-digit increase for the third time in a row.
This corresponds to a total distribution of EUR 95.6 million. This continuous dividend increase is part of our comprehensive strategy to create sustainable added value for you as owners of the company. I would like to take this opportunity to briefly discuss the performance of our share price. With a remarkable increase of around 33% in the 2024 financial year, the Scout24 share performed extremely positively, significantly outperforming the DAX and MDAX benchmark indices. This enabled us to continue our strong upward trend after our share had already increased by an impressive 37% in 2023. Our acquisitions are another important component of our capital allocation. In addition to organic growth, we further strengthened our market position through targeted acquisitions last year and at the beginning of this year.
The acquisitions of Boll & Giza, Explorial, Neubau Compass AG, Selfmade Energy, and 21st Real Estate expand our range of services and strategically important areas such as appraisal and data services. These acquisitions support our long-term growth objectives and strengthen our position in the market. Let us now turn to the third pillar of our capital allocation strategy, our consistent share buybacks. By reducing the average number of shares in recent years, we were able to increase earnings per share by a remarkable 15% to EUR 2.90 in the 2024 financial year. The longer-term view is even more impressive. From 2021 to 2024, we improved adjusted earnings per share by an average of 24% per year, which is clear evidence that we are generating sustainable value for you as shareholders.
In 2024, we therefore consistently continued our share buybacks and acquired approximately 1 million shares with a total value of EUR 75.8 million. In addition, on April 7th of this year, we launched a second tranche of our buyback program with a volume of up to EUR 100 million, which will run until June 3rd, 2026 at the latest. I would like to take this opportunity to mention that our own shares also serve as an attractive acquisition currency. This was demonstrated, for example, by the acquisition of the Sprengnetter Group in 2023, which we were able to complete in a liquidity-saving manner by using our own shares. Based on our strong starting position, we ask you today for your approval of two key agenda items. Agenda item 9 concerns the authorization to purchase and use own shares.
The Management Board and the Supervisory Board proposed to renew the authorization to purchase own shares totaling up to 10% of the existing share capital. Why does such an authorization make sense? Our business model is extremely strong in terms of cash flow. In the past financial year alone, we generated an operating cash flow of EUR 257 million compared to EUR 220 million in 2023. We regularly pay out dividends and complement our capital allocation with share buybacks. Our economic strength gives us considerable scope for further share buybacks. Moreover, we continue to have a very low level of debt. As of December 31st, 2024, the ratio of net financial debt to ordinary operating EBITDA was just 0.54. The authorization would give us flexibility for further share buybacks, which, as already mentioned, make a significant contribution to increasing earnings per share.
In addition to the value-enhancing effect, own shares are also of great strategic importance for M&A transactions and increase our flexibility in structuring them. Through a combination of acquisitions, dividend payments, and share buybacks, we create long-term value and ensure that our company remains a healthy, high-growth company that reliably pays increasing dividends and thus remains an attractive investment. Agenda item 10 concerns the renewal of the expiring authorized capital. The Management Board and the Supervisory Board propose to replace the authorized capital of 2020 with a new authorized capital 2025. The authorized capital 2025 is intended to authorize the Management Board to increase the company's share capital by up to 30% in total with the approval of the Supervisory Board. I would like to point out that the authorized capital 2020 was not used during its term. The new authorized capital 2025 is also a purely anticipatory resolution.
This means that we currently have no concrete plans to make use of this authorization. Why is this resolution still important to us then? It ensures our ability to act and gives us the flexibility we need to respond to strategic opportunities that may arise in the coming years. In the fast-paced digital world we live in, this flexibility is invaluable. The authorized capital 2025 has a term of five years. That means until June 4, 2030. It is divided into two separate authorizations. Firstly, the authorized capital 2025-1. This allows for an increase in share capital of up to EUR 15 million, which corresponds to 20% of the current share capital. The management board, with the approval of the supervisory board, may exclude shareholder subscription rights for up to 10% of the share capital. Secondly, the authorized capital 2025-2.
This provides for an increase of up to EUR 7.5 million, which corresponds to 10% of the current share capital. This authorization does not provide for the possibility of excluding subscription rights. This means that in the event of a capital increase on this basis, all shareholders retain their full subscription rights. I would like to emphasize this explicitly. Our strategy of reducing the number of shares through buyback programs remains unchanged. The creation of the authorized capital 2025 does not contradict this, but rather complements our financial flexibility for possible strategic options in the future. Finally, I would like to give you a brief outlook for the current financial year 2025. We expect accelerated sales growth of 12-14% for the full year, including 2 percentage points from inorganic growth. We expect the ordinary operating EBITDA margin to increase further by up to 50 basis points.
This confidence is based on a solid foundation. Our business has been growing continuously for over 25 years, and in the last four years, our sales have even grown by double-digit percentages. This achievement is only possible thanks to our dedicated team, whom I would like to thank at this point. Although we have seen a strong start to the first quarter of 2025, we are aware that current global uncertainties could impact interest rates, consumer confidence, and the overall dynamics of the real estate market in Germany. Nevertheless, with our ImmobilienScout24 marketplace, we are very well positioned to further expand our offer in the German real estate market. Despite the continuing challenging market, we are convinced that our diversified product portfolio will enable us to offer our customers exceptional added value in various market situations.
As you can see, dear shareholders, we achieved a lot in 2024 and will continue our successful course for growth in 2025. True to our motto, raising the bar, we continue to write our success story. In the future, we will continue to set standards in our dynamic market environment and continually raise the bar for our customers, our employees, and for you, our shareholders. Thank you for your trust and attention, and with that, I hand over to the chair of the meeting.
Lieber Ralf. Dear Ralf, dear Dirk, thank you very much for your detailed and informative reports. Ladies and gentlemen, as we've explained before, the Supervisory Board proposes under agenda item 7 that Lutz Finger be elected as a member of the Supervisory Board for the first time. Lutz Finger would now like to introduce himself to you personally. Dear Lutz, you have the floor.
Dear shareholders, first of all, I would like to thank the Supervisory Board of Scout24 cordially for the trust they've shown towards me, and of course, it's my pleasure to introduce myself to you here today. My name is Lutz Finger. Since 2015, I've been teaching at Cornell University in New York on the topic of artificial intelligence and product development in one of my courses. I have different ones, but in one of those, I exchange myself through an AI clone who then performs my teaching job. Moreover, I'm a founder and CEO of R2Decide LLC , which is an AI shop that supports brands and online shops in using artificial intelligence in a useful way. We support in the search, we improve search, we help the better brand awareness for large language models, so-called LLMs. That is an important topic.
We use these LLMs, all of us, in our lives today. These new tools, this new form of artificial intelligence, has brought about a deep change in the internet, which will also become visible in the real estate market. The way how people search for real estate, how they compare between different offers, how they decide, will change through AI and also through LLMs and so-called agents to a large degree. We can already see this when users talk to AI systems and then take purchasing decisions. Those systems understand the context, they understand the life situations and individual preferences of the users much better than ever before. All of that is just the beginning.
In the near future, AI assistants will take over the administration and management of real estate processes from an automated appointment setting with brokers through intelligent contract reviews up to recommendations regarding the financing of real estate. If you use these systems in a responsible and intelligent way and integrate them, then new business models will be created and the customer experience will be significantly improved. During these dynamic times, I would like to support Scout24 SE. I've gained experience for over 20 years in product development with Google. We were in Silicon Valley. I supported Google Health as a product manager at the time and therefore to drive ahead the use of artificial intelligence in the field of health. I used to work as a data scientist for LinkedIn and was responsible for developing the B2B business.
At Snapchat, I built up the analytics team and accompanied the public listing of Snap. Now, as a member of the Supervisory Board, I see my role above all in giving the Board of Management advice on strategic decisions with the interests of the shareholders in view, especially during these times. The role of an advisor is not unknown to me. When I left Snap, I turned to advise the Board of Management of Deutsche Bank in developing their digital strategy. Also, the view of a shareholder is something that I'm familiar with. I've invested into different smaller companies as an angel investor, and I can look back at some very successful exits already.
Be it as an investor or as someone responsible for products, as a member of the Supervisory Board, as a teacher, or as a data scientist, my focus has always been on the specific application of artificial intelligence and on the question as to how you could link technological innovation with a strategic entrepreneurial sense. That is also the focal point of my work. My own company side is still small, but we are amongst the 400 leading platforms for web shops and brands to offer a more efficient search and to offer sales agents. We take care of the fact that brands become visible in the search. If you deal with an AI agent today and talk to it, how can the brand get into this?
These are topics where we at R2Decide LLC help to create and improve a platform so that the conversion rates will increase, that sales will increase, and the customers can get a faster and better service. I would like to give advice together with the Supervisory Board to the Board of Management in topics like these, and it would be my pleasure, dear shareholders, if I could represent your interests in this field. That is why I would ask you kindly for your support. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, dear Lutz. I rest assured, dear shareholders, this is the real Lutz and not his clone. You will get this guarantee from us. Let us come back to the agenda at this point.
Ladies and gentlemen, the public part of the live broadcast will end, and from now on, only shareholders present in the room here in the venue and those connected via the online service, as well as their representatives, will be able to follow the rest of the annual general meeting. I would like to thank everyone who's followed the public broadcast for the interest and say goodbye to you at this point.