Domain profit surges 62pc amid price rises for property listings

Domain chief executive officer and managing director Jason Pellegrino says the average revenue per residential listing was up 18 per cent year-on-year.

"National depth penetration reached a new high, with growth in every state apart from Western Australia," he says, although in WA there was a 40 per cent uplift in revenue per listing. The term 'depth' pertains to Domain's paid listing tiers. 

Pellegrino highlights an "impressive uplift" in penetration in New South Wales for Domain's 'platinum' offerings, alongside "significant expansion" of Domain's 'gold' and 'silver' offerings in Victoria.

Domain's adjusted net profit stood at $49.4 million, representing a 27.9 per cent increase, and revenue grew by 13.1 per cent to $391.1 million.

The large difference between the statutory and underlying estimates can be partially explained by a $7.3 million loss on discontinued operations in FY23 in relation to the planned sale of the company's stake in the joint venture Domain Home Loans (DHG), which ended up taking place in December 2023.

Domain's 27.9 per cent increase in underlying profit compares to a 24 per cent lift in profit for Domain's rival REA Group (ASX: REA) to $461 million. The competitor's revenue rose by 23 per cent to $1.45 billion for the same period.

Both companies are owned by two of the country's largest media organisations, with Nine Entertainment Holdings (ASX: NEC) owning 60 per cent of Domain, and News Corp (ASX: NWS) owning 61.42 per cent of REA, the operator of Realestate.com.au.

Pellegrino also points to encouraging early results from social media amplification product Audience Boost, which automatically and efficiently extends all depth sale listings across a variety of digital channels.

"We’re excited by the early results from Audience Boost, with results which are consistent with our tests in FY24," he says.

"We are delivering an average uplift of around 30 per cent in views per listing across all depth products in July.

"Even more pleasing is the particular success we’re seeing in our less mature expanding and emerging markets where the uplift is even greater."

He says Audience Boost combines Domain listing marketing solutions with the proprietary, hard-to-replicate technology platform of AIM, which forms part of Domain's Agent Solutions division for real estate agents that also comprises numerous software offerings such as Pricefinder, RealTime Authorities, Engage, CampaignTrack and Homepass.

Despite AIM's cross-over benefits for Domain's social media strategy for listings, its revenues were down in FY24 with "lower attachment rates reflecting cost-of-living pressures in Australia and New Zealand". This contributed to a 6 per cent decline in revenue for Agent Solutions overall.

"Domain’s strong FY24 results reflect the efforts of more than 1,000 talented people at Domain, who are delivering on our marketplace strategy by building and releasing great solutions," says Pellegrino.

"Most pleasingly, our key assets of unique data, quality audiences and product innovation have delivered ‘Only on Domain’ experiences that provide real benefits to consumers, agents and enterprise customers.

"This has underpinned strong growth in Depth revenue, audience and listings, with the property market returning to a more normal environment. New listings growth improved each quarter of the year, led by the Sydney and Melbourne markets.

"Looking forward, this success has strengthened our resolve to vigorously compete and accelerate the benefits we deliver to customers. We are increasing investment into our technology platforms, while retaining our track record of disciplined productivity improvement across the business."