News: REA UPDATE 1-News Corp-owned real estate firm REA posts annual earnings lift

(Updates with further details and background throughout)

Aug 9 (Reuters) - REA Group (REA) , majority-owned by News Corp NWSA.O , reported a rise in annual earnings and hiked its dividend on Friday, reflecting price increases and higher national listings in Australia.

The company, which operates residential and commercial property websites, said net profit after tax from core operations rose 24% to A$460.5 million ($303.38 million), from A$372.2 million reported a year ago.

It declared a final dividend of A$1.02 per share, up from 83 Australian cents apiece a year ago.

Revenue from REA Group's 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.

Its revenue from Move, which operates the property portal realtor.com in North America, declined 10%, impacted by poor macroeconomic conditions in the United States. REA Group owns a 20% stake in Move.

The company also has a 17.2% stake in PropertyGuru Group PGRU.N , which operates property sites in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. PropertyGuru's core equity-accounted contribution was a A$1 million loss in fiscal 2024.

REA's total losses from its equity investments in other firms increased to A$26 million for the year, from A$16 million a year ago. ($1 = 1.5179 Australian dollars)