Sydney - Wednesday - August 23: (RWE Australian Business News)...

Sydney - Wednesday - August 23: (RWE Australian Business News) -
Realestate.com.au Ltd (REA) reports it lifted revenue 81 per cent to
$60.9 million and gross profit 134 per cent to $13.1 million in 2006.
After one-off costs (takeover defence costs and financing
associated with a bridging loan) are taken into account, profit before
tax and minority interests was $10.6 million.
This is an increase of 88% over the previous financial year.
However, net profit was $8.22 million, up just 2 per cent.
According to Managing Director Mr Simon Baker, "We are extremely
pleased with the growth of the business over the last 12 months and we
have managed to exceed both our forecasted performance and our internal
stretch targets.
"We now have around 11,000 agents advertising over 650,000
properties across the six sites we operate throughout Australia, New
Zealand and the United Kingdom. The combined readership of these sites
has risen to over 5 million people each month.
"The last year has been one of continued rapid expansion. We
have acquired a controlling stake in propertyfinder.com and the London
Property News, as well as 100 percent of Hubonline and Propertylook in
Australia. These businesses will help us expand in Australia and
internationally
"The good news is that we have managed to maintain the growth of
the Australian business while expanding into these new markets. We have
built a strong team and are now very well positioned to continue our
local expansion while ensuring that The REA Group becomes a significant
player on the global online property advertising stage."