Eastern European online automotive, jobs and property advertising portal, Baltic Classifieds (BCG), is enjoying a strong run.

Up 36% year-to-date, the shares have trebled from March 2022 lows and at 329p have nearly doubled from the 165p IPO price.

The FTSE 250 company has 14 online classified portals covering cars, real estate, employment opportunities and other services throughout the Baltic region (which encompasses Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia).

As Berenberg analyst Ciaran Donnelly observes: ‘Baltic Classifieds operates the leading platforms in its verticals in Lithuania and Estonia, creating a strong defensive moat due to network effects.’

As with UK-focused businesses like Rightmove (RMV) and Auto Trader (AUTO), said network effects mean having more advertisers and users on the platform make it more of a go-to product for both parties.  

Donnelly also notes the company is underrepresented in relative terms in Latvia and sees scope for management to use M&A to address this.

The group is currently scheduled to announce its first-half results for the financial year running to 30 April 2025 on 5 December.

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