Realestate.com.au publisher REA Group reports 20% rise in site visits and nine-month earnings up 30%

The REA Group, publisher of realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au, has revealed a 20% rise in monthly Australian site traffic and a 30% rise in earnings for the first nine months of its 2012-13 financial year.

The update was given as part of a US regulatory filing by parent company News Corporation as part of the formation of new business group, ‘New News Corporation'.

REA Group revenue for the nine months to March 31 was $244 million, up from $203 million for the previous corresponding period.

Before tax earnings were $117 million for the nine-month period to March 31, compared with $90 million in the previous corresponding period.

The filing reveals that there were are a combined 23.1 million visits each month to realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au based on Nielsen average monthly total traffic ratings for the six months ended March 31, 2013.

This is almost 20% up on montly site visits of 19.4 million across realestate.com.au, realcommercial.com.au and property.com.au reported in February interim results filing also using Nielson average monthly traffic ratings.

REA Group will form part of the US$2.6 billion ‘New News Corporation’ which includes pay TV provider Foxtel, book publisher HarperCollins, The Wall Street Journal and New York Post and a digital education business called ‘Amplify’.

In February, REA Group reported a 25% rise in interim net profits after tax for the half year to December 31 of $51.6 million.

Its Australian division, which generates 90% of group revenue, increased revenue by 21% to $144.7 million.

The US filing reports that REA Group also owns Italian property site, casa.it, and other property sites and apps across Europe and in Hong Kong with its sites used by used by around 21,000 estate agents.