Half Yearlies: The property market is on its way up and real estate agent McGrath is cashing in

The property market looks to be heading north again after an 18-month slump, and McGrath’s (ASX:MEA) half-yearly results are reflecting the turnaround.

After the property market slumped following a housing bubble between 2017 and 2018, the property market is rebounding thanks to record low interest rates and tax cuts.

In the first half of FY20, McGrath’s revenue climbed 15 per cent to $48.9m and earnings reached $1.6m, a vast improvement on the $2.5m earnings loss booked a year earlier.

It made a statutory loss after tax of $980,000. But this was far lower than the $9.6m loss it made in the first half of last financial year.

CEO Geoff Lucas said the business had achieved solid results in the first half and the outlook appeared positive. He reported seeing strong clearance rates, fewer days on the market and healthy buyer demand.

“We have seen a strong start to activity in 2020 with an increased number of vendors who have gone to market early and benefited from strong demand and continued rising values during the last quarter of CY2019,” he said.

“We believe this will have a positive impact on vendor sentiment for the first half”.

McGrath shares gained 13.1 per cent this morning.

In other ASX half yearlies today:

Utilities provider Amaysim (ASX:AYS) lauded its half-yearly results. It made a net profit after tax of $3.7m and surpassed 1 million total mobile subscribers. However, its revenue of $244m was 7.1 per cent lower due to a decline in average prices per user.

National Veterinary Care’s (ASX:NVL) results were probably its last as an ASX-listed company due to it being taken over, but its fair to say it will go out with a bang. Its revenue was up 30 per cent from the prior corresponding period to $69m. Its profit after tax grew strongly as well, jumping 56 per cent to $4.1m.

Fellow animal healthcare provider Apiam Animal Health (ASX:AHX) had solid results too. It booked $56m in revenue and a $2m profit after tax. Managing director Chris Richards said the company had been resilient and had a positive outlook with recent rainfalls and favourable commodity prices.