ASX Announcement
13 August 2013
REA Group strategy delivers accelerated growth in 2013
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Revenue of $336.5 million, up 21%
EBITDA of $163.7 million, up 30%
Net profit of $109.7 million, up 26%
Final dividend of 25.5 cents
EPS of 83.3 cents, up 26%
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) today announced its result for the year ending 30 June 2013.
Revenue for the Group was $336.5 million, a 21% increase on the prior year, EBITDA rose
30% to $163.7 million and net profit increased by 26% to $109.7 million.
Commenting on the result, REA Group CEO and Managing Director Greg Ellis said, “This is a
great result driven by accelerated take-up of our depth products. In Australia, our
residential business recorded one of its best growth years to date. We are now increasing
our depth rollout in our international markets, where strong demand for our initial depth
offerings contributed to double-digit revenue growth this year.”
2013 Financial Results* include:
AU$ ‘000 (unless stated)
2013
2012
Growth YoY
Revenue
336,460
277,613
21%
EBITDA
163,720
125,982
30%
49%
45%
9%
109,746
86,782
26%
257.3m
181.6m
42%
83.3c
66.2c
26%
EBITDA Margin
NPAT
Cash balance as at 30 Jun 13
Earnings per share (EPS)
** The numbers contained in this release are derived from the audited REA Group Annual Financial Statements for the 12 months ended 30 June 2013
Australia – Depth products drive growth
REA Group’s Australian operations include the market-leading residential and commercial
real estate websites, realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au, as well as REA Media
which serves developer and display media clients.
Together, these businesses recorded 22% revenue growth for the year. Listing depth
product revenue grew by 49% to $130.5 million, overtaking subscription revenue of $115.0
million.
The Australian residential business was a standout with 25% revenue growth, among the
highest recorded residential year on year growth in REA Group’s history. This growth was
led by the popularity of the Highlight and Premiere listing depth products.
2
Media and developer revenue increased by 21% due to continued display media innovation
and strong take-up of the Project Profile product by developers.
Longer-duration listing depth products were significant growth drivers for the commercial
business during the second half, increasing the portion of revenue deferred into FY2014. As
a result, the commercial business has recorded 9% growth this year, however, on a cash
basis the business grew 23%.
With the stabilisation of the Australian property market this year, there was a slight
increase in agent offices to 9,114. Average Revenue Per Agent (ARPA 1) increased by 26%
as a result of the accelerated take-up of listing depth products.
REA Group sites accounted for an average of 74% of total minutes spent on Australian sites
during the year (nearest competitor 19%). Together, realestate.com.au,
realcommercial.com.au and property.com.au recorded 20.6 million monthly desktop visits
on average in 2013 (2.5 times that of the nearest competitor).
Increasing consumer use of mobile devices to access the internet saw downloads of our
Australian mobile apps surpass 2.2 million downloads in June 2013. In addition, there was
a 65% increase in monthly average visits to our Australian mobile sites (m.sites) in the 12
months from July 2012 to June 2013.
Italy – Depth products meet needs of challenging market environment
REA Group’s Italian business, casa.it, is Italy’s market leading residential property site. In
2013, casa.it recorded 14% revenue growth to €19.7 million in local currency, a significant
achievement in a difficult economic climate. EBITDA also grew to €1.17 million, an increase
of 73%.
casa.it recorded a 60% increase in listing depth revenue, indicating strong market readiness
for a full range of listing depth products which are now being rolled out. Subscription
revenue increased by 12% and media display revenue grew by 16%. ARPA increased by
27% during the year while paying agents decreased by 8%, primarily small agents impacted
by the economic conditions.
Average monthly visits to casa.it grew to 7.77 million during the period, an increase of 18%,
and the site’s average monthly unique audience increased by 15% to 2.86 million, 1.5 times
that of its nearest competitor.
Hong Kong and Greater Luxembourg
In Hong Kong, REA Group’s squarefoot.com.hk business recorded 18% revenue growth to
HK$16.2 million. As a result of continued investment in squarefoot.com.hk, average visits
to the site increased by 93% during the year and the Group is preparing to roll out listing
depth products in this market.
1
Average Monthly Revenue Per Agent for the 12 months ended 30 June. Prior period comparatives have been restated to monthly averages for consistency (previously
disclosed one month at a point in time).
3
REA Group’s business in the Greater Luxembourg region operates real estate sites in
Luxembourg, France and Germany. The profitable business achieved revenue growth of
23% to €6.9 million, and EBITDA growth of 34% to €2.7 million. Paying agents increased in
France and Germany, ARPA increased by 45% and average monthly visits to the sites grew
by 36% to 798,000.
“This is an outstanding result and a credit to our team throughout Australia, Europe and
Hong Kong. It is their consistent focus on our purpose – helping people to live their
property dreams - that sets us apart. This year we have once again invested over $45
million in technology and products to support our strategy and deliver exceptional value to
our consumers, customers and property owners,” remarked Greg Ellis.
Returning capital to shareholders through the final dividend
The directors have declared a 2013 final dividend of 25.5 cents per share fully franked,
bringing the total dividend for the year to 41.5 cents per share fully franked, a 26%
increase
on the 2012 total dividend.
REA Group Chairman, Hamish McLennan, said, “Over the past year, our shareholders have
benefited from a strong increase in value and we are delighted to announce a final dividend
at the top end of our payout ratio. We are absolutely focused on executing our strategy and
delivering attractive returns for our shareholders. On behalf of the board, I congratulate
Greg and his team on delivering this record result and thank them for their consistent focus
on driving profitable growth across the Group.”
The final dividend will be paid on 24 September 2013, with a record date of 30 August 2013.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Investor Relations:
Jenny Macdonald
Chief Financial Officer
P: +61 3 8456 4341
E: [email protected]
Media:
Jennifer Parker, Sage Communications
On behalf of REA Group
M: 0403 296 864
E: [email protected]
Lia Pacquola, REA Group
P: +61 3 8456 4151
M: +61 409 128 719
E: [email protected]