REA Group Projects 50% Revenue Growth

While many in the property portal world are worried about a possible downturn in advertising revenue, Greg Ellis, CEO of REA Group, remains optimistic.

Ellis made the positive comments in an interview with The Australian newspaper published today.

He said that the online real estate classified market shows no sign of succumbing to the advertising slowdown. He also said that the REA Group expects to maintain revenue growth of about 50 per cent this financial year.

Ellis was quoted as saying:

“People are spending a very small proportion of their annual budgets online… The saturation point of that is years away.”

REA count realestate.com.au in Australia and propertyfinder.com in the UK among their stable of international property portals.

Mr Ellis was also reported as saying that an Australian mobile site would go into beta testing before the end of this financial year.

A lot of attention has been on the REA Group of late, with rapid international expansion, the appointment of Greg Ellis as CEO, News Limited increasing their stake in the company, and record breaking 45 percent increase in revenues last financial year.

1. REA Group Revenue Up, Profits Down

   REA Group Limited has announced its results for the Australian financial year ending 30 June 2009, showing that it delivered 26% revenue growth and 34% EBITDA growth, and announcing a dividend payment of 10 cents per share. But the news was not all good....

2. REA Group Sells Stake in propertyfinder.ae

   The REA Group has exited the Dubai market by selling its 51% stake in propertyfinder.ae to its joint venture partner, the Swiss Media Group. The REA Group purchased 51% of Propertyfinder.ae in October 2007 with the objective of driving strong growth on online real estate advertising in the Gulf Region. The sales continues the retreat of the REA Group to its core Australian business....

3. The REA Group Appoints Greg Ellis as New CEO

   Today the REA Group announced the appointment of Greg Ellis as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer. Ellis is currently Marketing Director Asia Online Services for Microsoft. He will take on the new role on Monday, 8 September. Find out more about Greg Ellis ... ...

4. REA Group Announces 47% Net Profit Growth but No Dividend

   The REA Group today announced $11.4 million in first half profits, a year on year growth of 47%. Underlying this growth in profit was a year on year growth in revenues of 28% to $91.3 million. The key driver of this growth continues to be the Australian business, which delivered a 26% year on year increase in revenues and a 40% increase in EBITDA. However, while operating cash flow was $10.2 million, the Directors again failed to declare a dividend. While on the surface these look like strong results, especially given the economic environment, a closer look reveals that revenue growth appears to be slowing. The business may be in for a tough second half of 2009....

5. More Strong Results from REA Group

   The launch of a new look and feel for REA Group's realestate.com.au is said to be fast approaching, but today all eyes are on the company's financial results. Results for the half year ending 31 December 2009 have EBITDA up 42 percent, net profit from continuing operations up 76 percent, and revenue up 13 percent compared to the half year ending December 2008....