Daily Buzz: Friday, 9 February
By
PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.
REA Group Kicks Off the 2023 financial year with a strong start, a landscaper has been hit with hefty fines for failing to pay up, and which foreign country is Australia’s biggest commercial investor?
Welcome to Property Buzz! I’m Orana Durney-Benson.
Today is Friday the 9th of February, and REA Group has had a strong start to the 2023 to 2024 financial year according to their latest ASX report.
– REA Group reported a strong half-year financial result with an 18% increase in revenue, totalling $726 million across their Australia and India firms.
– The group made a half-yearly profit of $250 million, a 22% increase compared to the previous fiscal year, largely due to strong yield growth and a normalised listings environment..
– REA Group’s flagship site, realestate.com.au, continued to be Australia’s leading property site, with 10.6 million users visiting each month and active members increasing by 17%.
Down in New South Wales, Sydney-based Precise Fencing and Landscaping has been fined $15,000 by the Fair Work Ombudsman for withholding employee pay, with director Kurt Dean personally fined $3,000.
– The penalties were issued after the company failed to comply with a Compliance Notice requiring back-payment entitlements to a full-time employee who worked from July 2021 to March 2022.
– The Fair Work Inspector issued the Compliance Notice after determining the worker was not paid accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements owed at the end of his employment.
– In addition to the penalties, the court ordered the company to back-pay the worker in full, plus interest. The case serves as a warning to other businesses about withholding pay.
And on the international stage, Japanese investors have emerged as the top foreign investors in Australia’s commercial markets, outlaying over $2 billion in 2023.
– It’s a substantial increase from just $140 million in 2022, according to CBRE.
– Key Japanese transactions included Mitsubishi Estate’s involvement in Mirvac’s $1.8 billion build-to-rent venture, while there has been strong activity in the living and office sectors.
– Investment from North America ranked second at $1.6 billion, while Hong Kong and Singapore both contributed around $1 billion.
That’s it for today.
See you again tomorrow, the 10th of February, for your daily dose of Property Buzz.
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