REA Group has announced its H1 financial results for the half-year ended 31 December 2023, demonstrating a strong performance across its core operations.

The company reported an 18% increase in revenue from core operations, reaching $726m, compared to the prior corresponding period. Operating expenses also saw an uptick of 11%, totalling $287m.

The company's EBITDA (excluding associates) was $439m, marking a 22% increase. Net profit rose by the same percentage, reaching $250m, while earnings per share (EPS) stood at $1.89, also up by 22%. The interim dividend was $0.87 per share, fully franked, representing a 16% increase. However, reported net profit saw a decline of 37% to $127m due to the impairment of PropertyGuru and other one-off impacts.

In Australia, REA Group operates residential and commercial sites realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au, PropTrack, and Mortgage Choice. The core Australian revenue was $682m, up 17% YoY, or 16% excluding the acquisition of CampaignAgent. Australian EBITDA before associates was $458 million, up 20% YoY. Australian operating expenses were up 12% to $224m due to remuneration and technology costs.

Residential revenue increased 19% to $505m, while commercial and developer revenue saw an 11% increase to $80m. Media, data and other revenue were up 21% to $60m, or flat excluding the impact of the CampaignAgent acquisition. Financial services revenue increased 4% to $36m.

REA Group said its flagship site, realestate.com.au, maintained its leadership position. Key audience highlights included 10.6 million people visiting each month on average; 52% exclusively using realestate.com.au; 126.1 million average monthly visits; visitors spending 3.0 times longer on realestate.com.au each month on average compared to the nearest competitor; a 17% increase in active members; 3.2 million unique properties tracked by their owner, up 41% YoY; and 2.1 million average monthly buyer enquiries, up 15% YoY.

"REA has delivered an outstanding result driven by strong yield growth and the benefit of a more normalised listings environment," REA Group Chief Executive Officer, Owen Wilson, said. "This resulted in a strong uptake of our premium products as customers sought to leverage our leading audience to maximise their campaigns in the strengthening market.

"The strength and quality of our audience delivered strong growth in both buyer enquiries and seller leads. Buy listing views also increased during the half, culminating in a record number of views in October. This reflects both investment in our exceptional consumer experience and strengthening demand in the market."

"Pleasingly, our focus on the growth of our valuable active membership base continued to yield strong results as we added new features driving deeper engagement and delivering rich new insights for our customers," Wilson concluded.