Simon Parker
REA Group, the owner’s of realestate.com.au, posted a 32 per cent on-year rise in net profit for the half year to December 2011, although the number of agents paying to use the site declined during the period.
“REA Group is very pleased to deliver double-digit growth for the first-half,” REA Group CEO and managing director, Greg Ellis, in relation to the group’s $41.2 million net profit result.
“In Australia, our residential and commercial property sites, realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au are number one in their respective markets, with a strong lead on the number two players. Our Australian display advertising business, REA Media, delivered an outstanding 33 per cent increase on the same period last year.”
Revenue grew by 18 per cent to $134.6 million while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 24 per cent to $59.6 million, and the directors announced a fiscal year 2012 interim dividend of 12.5 cents per share fully franked. This was up from 10 cents in fiscal year 2011.
REA Group said realestate.com.au attracted a Unique Audience (UA) of 2.4 million in December 2011 (Nielsen), approximately 1.8 times that of its closest competitor.
Paying subscribing agents decreased to 9,324 agents, down from 9,536 agents in June 2011, a result the company attributed to “Queensland agency numbers contracting”.
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