By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--REA Group Ltd. raised its dividend by 30% after a jump in Australian property listings helped the real-estate advertiser to lift its first-half profit by 28%.

REA reported a net profit for the six months through December of 221.3 million Australian dollars (US$157.9 million), compared with A$173.4 million a year earlier. It said Australian residential listings rose by 31% on-year despite the impact of Covid-related lockdowns in its fiscal first quarter.

The board declared an interim dividend of 75 Australian cents per share, up from 59 Australian cents a year ago.

REA is 61% owned by News Corp., which also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.


Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-03-22 1735ET