REA Group Sees Revenue up 17% And EBITDA up 23% In Positive Third Quarter

The Australian real estate portal operating company REA Group has released the results of its activities for Q3 of the Australian financial year. Notable numbers from the company's report include:

• Revenue of A$278 million, up 17% year-on-year
• EBITDA (inc associates) of A$155 million, up 23% year-on-year
• Operating expenses up 6% year-on-year at A$122 million

Domestically, the group's flagship portal Realestate.com.au had a good quarter thanks to a strong sales market with CEO Owen Wilson also chalking up the positive quarter on the home front to increased sales of premium listings products:

“Australians transacted property at pace during the quarter as continued high demand gave sellers the confidence to bring their properties to market. These conditions, combined with record take up of our premium products, contributed to our very strong result. We also continued to see excellent growth in our strategically important Financial Services, Data and Indian businesses”.

Although the rental market and the commercial market suffered somewhat from a decrease in listings coming to market, this was offset in both markets by increased depth penetration and price rises. Elsewhere, the company's 'Media Data & Other' segment grew slightly with the data business leading the way.

REA Group has invested a great deal in its mortgage and financial services business segment. A year ago, Australian authorities signed off on REA's A$244 million acquisition of publicly-traded mortgage brokerage Mortgage Choice with the integration expected to be fully completed by Q3 of FY23.

Although this segment delivered what the company called "growth in operating revenues, due to continued growth in settlements and brokers", the outlook is for slower growth in the fourth quarter as interest rates continue to rise.

Another business that the company has invested heavily in is REA India. The business which includes the Housing.com, Makaan and PropTiger platforms has been gaining ground on rivals Magic Bricks and 99acres in terms of traffic (+31% y-o-y) and REA Group is on record as wanting to create a dominant market leadership position in the country.