News Corp-owned real estate firm REA jumps on higher annual earnings, dividend
Shares jump as much as 4.7%
Raises final dividend to A$1.02 per share
India ops revenue rises 31%
Rewrites throughout with details and background; adds share moves in paragraph 2 and analyst view in paragraph 11
By Rishav Chatterjee
Aug 9 (Reuters) -REA Group REA.AX, majority-owned by News Corp NWSA.O, posted a rise in annual profit and raised its dividend, buoyed by price hikes and higher national home listings in Australia, sending its shares on track for their best session in six months.
Shares of the Melbourne-headquartered real estate firm, in which the Murdoch family owns over 61%, rose as much as 4.7% to A$198.48 on Friday and were set for their biggest intraday gain since early February.
Net profit after tax from core operations rose 24% to A$460.5 million ($303.38 million) for the year ended June 30. REA declared final dividend of A$1.02 apiece, up from 83 cents a year ago.
REA said residential demand remains strong nationally and with decade-high interest rates being put on hold, positive market fundamentals and robust supply should support consumer confidence.
Its revenue from India operations rose 31% to A$103 million. Its real estate search portal, Housing.com, benefited from strong customer events, including improved monetisation in Tier 2 Indian cities.
Growth in India will be driven by higher marketing spends, it said and expects smaller losses for the next fiscal.
Revenue from Move, which operates the property portal realtor.com in North America, declined 10%, on poor macroeconomic conditions in the U.S. REA owns a 20% stake in Move.
REA has a 17.2% stake in PropertyGuru PGRU.N, which operates property sites in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. Its core equity-accounted contribution was A$1 million loss in 2024.
REA's annual losses from equity investments in other firms increased to A$26 million, from A$16 million last year.
However, it expects losses for its contributions from firms it owns takes to be marginally lower next fiscal amid stabilising U.S. market conditions.
Analysts at Citi expect the market to prioritize next year's revenue growth prospects, influenced by REA's effective cost management driving operating leverage.
($1 = 1.5179 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Rashmi Aich
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