REA Group Posts Solid if Unspectacular FY23 Results as Indian Business Continues Growth

The Australian real estate portal operator REA Group has released its yearly results to the market. Highlights of the Melbourne-based company's FY23 included:

• Revenue stood at A$1.2 billion, up 1% on the previous year.
• EBITDA (excluding associates) stood at A$651 million, down 3%.
• Net profit was A$372 million, down 9%.
• Indian revenue was up 46% at A$79 million.

REA Group is the owner and operator of the leading Australian real estate portal Realestate.com.au which competes domestically with Domain.com.au. The company is majority-owned (61%) by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Australian revenue was relatively stable at A$1,104 million despite double-digit drops in residential listings nationally. A company press release put this down to an 11% increase in the money REA Group made from for-sale listings over the course of the financial year as well as a 6% rise in house prices and increased depth penetration of premium marketing packages.

Commenting on the results, REA Group Chief Executive Officer, Owen Wilson said:

“Our year-on-year performance reflects the comparatively very strong listings environment in 2022. Despite the significantly lower listings in FY23, REA Group’s result demonstrates the strength and resilience of our business as customers continued to prioritise our premium products, leading platforms, and superior audience."

Commercial and Developer revenue was up 4% to A$142 million while the company's Media Data and Other segment saw revenue remain flat at $97 million. Domestic traffic decreased slightly to stand at 120.6 million average monthly total visits.

REA Group has a long history of trying to crack the mortgage market in Australia and in 2022 incorporated Mortgage Choice into its results following a A$244 million acquisition of the listed mortgage brokerage in 2021.

REA's financial services division saw revenue decline 13% in FY23 due to slow market activity but the company did manage to add 183 brokers to its network.

As well as its operations at home, REA Group operates the Housing.com and Makaan portals through REA India. The company has managed to grow Housing.com into a traffic leader and continues to invest money in India. REA's operating costs were up 7% in FY23 largely because of "higher costs in India from continued investment in people, increased marketing and growth in revenue related costs."

The Indian business saw revenue grow 46% compared to FY22 to stand at A$79 million. The business has reportedly been successful in upselling customers and onboarding more Indian agents. According to Wilson, REA India actually increased its lead over competitors over the course of the year:

“Our Indian business continued to deliver exceptional revenue growth and extended its leadership position as the No.1 property portal by audience in the Indian market.”

Although the market seemed nonplussed by the Group's results in Friday's trading (shares closed at A$158.6) REA Group's share price has been on an upward trajectory in 2023.

Credit: Google