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Australia’s biggest listings portal has trumpeted its “undeniable market leadership position” after releasing strong financial results.
REA Group earned $384 million in revenues during the first three quarters of the 2014/2015 financial year, according to a trading update.
That was 20.8 per cent higher than the $318 million it earned in the first nine months of 2013/2014, with revenue growth outstripping the 11.5 per cent increase in operating costs.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation from core operations jumped 29.6 per cent to $210 million.
REA Group said the third-quarter results were driven by the continued success of its product strategy, which saw Australian residential depth revenue increase by 38 per cent.
The trading update follows REA Group’s strong half-yearly results, when it reported a 34 per cent jump in underlying profit, which it partly attributed to a rise in agent satisfaction.
REA Group used the half-yearly results to celebrate its market lead over arch rival Domain Group – and it also talked up its “undeniable market leadership position” in this latest update.
REA Group pointed to CoreLogic RP Data statistics showing that realestate.com.au had 92.8 per cent of Australian residential listings between April 2014 and March 2015, compared to 67.3 per cent for domain.com.au.
It also published Nielsen research showing that realestate.com.au attracted a record unique audience of 4.0 million in March 2015, which was 1.5 million more than domain.com.au.
This comes after REA Group and Domain had a public argument about audience statistics in February.
The saga began when Domain accused REA Group of making “deceptive and misleading” performance comparisons, which REA Group denied.
Domain then slammed a subsequent research report that showed it losing ground against REA Group, although Roy Morgan Research rejected claims that its methodology was “flawed and outdated”.
REA Group chief executive Tracey Fellows hailed the group’s latest financial results, which she said highlighted its leadership position and continuing growth.
“This quarter we were first to market with the Apple Watch app, launched our utility connections services and made excellent progress with our international investments,” Ms Fellows said.
“Since launching late last year our Agent Profiles product has had 3.28 million views, providing consumers with accurate information on the expertise and experience of agents and providing customers with valuable leads and exposure.”
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