PHOTO: REA Group
REA Group chief executive Owen Wilson is confident the Australian property market is improving and the News Corp-majority owned property classifieds business is well-positioned to capture profits.
REA increased underlying profits in a tough local property market over the last year, which has included a federal election and two state elections in NSW and Victoria, and decreased access to mortgage finance as the financial sector went through the banking royal commission.
“We haven’t seen conditions as harsh as this in REA’s history, to be frank,” Mr Wilson told The Australian Financial Review.
“We’re are absolutely delighted with the result given the really tough market conditions we faced.”
REA’s statutory net profit fell 58 per cent to $105.3 million in 2018-19 thanks to a $173.2 million non-cash writedown in its Asia business, as governments in Hong Kong and Thailand introduced market-cooling measures.
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