PropertyGuru to exit Indonesian market and cease FastKey service
Mia Pei
PROPERTYGURU plans to cease its marketplaces business in Indonesia – which it operates through online platform Rumah.com – and discontinue operations for its FastKey workflow automation tool.
The decisions came as the group continues to “review progress and periodically streamline operations” to reprioritise resources towards more promising businesses.
Hari Krishnan, the group’s chief executive officer and managing director, said in a message to employees on Monday (Aug 21) that Rumah.com will cease to operate on Nov 30, 2023.
Until the cessation date, the Singapore-based real estate firm will continue to serve Rumah.com’s agent and developer partners.
“We will refund the fees paid by them as per the respective contracts. For our vendor partners, we will pay the dues as per the individual contractual commitments,” Krishnan added.
The group will also provide enhanced packages, healthcare and job transition support to the 61 employees affected by the decision, representing about 3.6 per cent of its total workforce which stands at over 1,700.
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Krishnan noted that all the impacted employees have been spoken with as at Monday.
PropertyGuru acquired Rumah.com in 2011 as its first step to enter the Indonesian market. It was later overhauled and integrated with RumahDijual.com in 2015 to form the group’s Indonesian marketplaces business.
Contributions to PropertyGuru’s total revenue by Rumah.com stood at 1.9 per cent in 2022, down from 2.3 per cent in 2021 and 2.2 per cent in 2020, according to the group’s annual report in 2022.
PropertyGuru also plans to discontinue FastKey, one of its SaaS (software-as-a-service) products, in all of the markets where it currently operates. Operations for the CRM (customer relationship management) platform will cease in Indonesia on Jul 31, 2024, followed by Malaysia and Singapore on Oct 15 in the same year.
Until then, the company will continue to provide FastKey services to its existing customers, said Krishnan. The FastKey team will also work as usual until the cessation dates of the respective three markets.
“As we move forward, we are engaging in conversations with the affected FastKey team members, exploring redeployment opportunities within the group and ensuring that they are supported throughout this period of change.”
Krishnan added that these business decisions are not expected to have a material impact on the FY2023 financial outlook.
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