Online marketplace and advertising business, Trade Me (NZX: TME), has lifted revenue by 9.2 percent to $218 million for the year to 31 June 2016 but after tax profit was down 6.5 percent to $74.9 million. EBITDA was up 4.5 percent to $140.5 million.
Trade Me Property reported a 15.9 percent lift in revenue, with “continued growth in ‘for sale’ listings from agents and very strong demand for premium products (up more than 50 percent),” the company said, adding: “A suite of new products has been rolled out, including free sales and rating valuation data to consumers, and the OneHub portal for property professionals.”
Trade Me Motors’ revenue was up 11.2 percent thanks to a 26 percent boost in dealer revenue as a result of “a strengthened sales effort and demand for motor vehicle data via MotorWeb.” Trade Me Jobs’ revenue was up 14.6 percent.
The company said it expected FY17 revenues to grow at a similar rate to FY16. “The profit uplift will be delivered by our core Marketplace and Classified businesses,” it said.“This will be driven by the increasing ease-of-use of all our products and conversion of premium revenue opportunities.”
It delivered a bullish outlook for FY17. “Structural tailwinds exist in our core businesses as classified advertising continues to transition from print to online,” Trade Me said. “NZ GDP growth remains strong, driven by strong private consumption growth which our consumer-facing businesses are exposed to and underlying consumer confidence remains net favourable. New goods retailing continues to transition from bricks and mortar to online, with annual growth in online retail spend by New Zealanders in excess of 10 percent per annum.”
CEO Jon Macdonald said development of a new, mobile-responsive web site for Trade Me was under way. “We want to provide a more contemporary and consistent experience for our users, regardless of device. We also expect the new site to vastly reduce the time needed to build new features,” he said.