Realestate.com.au's REA profits up 33%

The property advertising website operator REA Group posted a 33% rise in net profit to $67.5 million for the year to June 30, saying the result is due to growth in core areas of operations.

Its revenue was up 23% at $238 million compared with the previous corresponding 12 months, with $213 million being drawn from its Australian realestate.com.au clients. Its net profit from continuing operations went up 37% to $67 million.

It noted that its market share of Australia remained flat, with 9,536 paying estate agents.

However, REA’s monthly average revenue per agent was up 15% from $1,267 in June 2010 to $1,456 in June 2011  due to take-up of its new range of depth products.

The web traffic across all Australian sites increased to 9.2 million unique browsers in May 2011, up from 6.7 million in May 2010, based on Nielsen data.

The company operates 13 websites in countries including Italy, France and Hong Kong.

REA Group shares were up 13¢ to $11.77 yesterday.