Former JobsDB General Manager Joins iProperty.com Malaysia
IPGA Ltd (ASX: IPP), the owner of Asia’s No. 1 network of property portal sites under the iProperty umbrella brand (www.iproperty.com), today announced that Timothy Hor has joined as Country Manager for the Malaysia business iProperty.com Malaysia (www.iproperty.com.my). Prior to joining, Timothy was General Manager of JobsDB Malaysia, the Malaysian arm of the largest recruitment portal in Asia Pacific. As Country Manager, Timothy brings a wealth of online experience to the iProperty.com Malaysia business.
“Timothy is an experienced and proven operator of an online business and has the skills and capabilities to take the business through the next stage of its growth. iProperty is a clear market leader in Malaysia and we look forward to Timothy’s input and leadership as we expand upon that market leadership position and provide our customers with great levels of service and our website users with an outstanding experience,” said Shaun Di Gregorio, Chief Executive Officer of IPGA Ltd.
“The iProperty.com network has established leading positions in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. With the recent acquisition of Thinkproperty.com.my in Malaysia, I am confident Timothy will drive further growth in both these businesses,” commented Di Gregorio.
Timothy adds, “I am thrilled to be joining IPGA. There are only a handful of local online businesses one looks forward to working with and iProperty.com Malaysia is by far, the best.”
The appointment of Timothy Hor follows the appointment of former Fairfax Media Commercial Strategy Director, Glenn Thompson as Country Manager of iProperty.com Singapore in June 2010.
iProperty acquires Malaysia’s #2 ranked property portal, thinkproperty.com.my
IPGA Ltd the owner of Asia’s No. 1 network of property portal sites under the iProperty umbrella brand (www.iproperty.com), today announced that it has acquired Think Media Sdn Bhd, owner and operator of Malaysia’s number two ranked property portal ‘thinkproperty.com.my’. IPGA Ltd currently operates Malaysia’s number one ranked property portal iProperty.com.my.
“Malaysia is one of our core markets alongside Singapore and Hong Kong. At the beginning of the year we stated clearly that our strategy will be focused on building on the market leading positions we’ve established in our three core markets. The acquisition of thinkproperty.com.my further consolidates our leadership position in Malaysia and builds an even better platform for future growth in that market and across the region” said IPGA CEO, Shaun Di Gregorio.
“We’ll continue to run thinkproperty.com.my as a standalone website in Malaysia as it offers consumers a different user experience and allows advertisers to reach a unique audience of property buyers and sellers. We’ve identified a number of improvements we can make to the website and ultimately deliver an even better result for consumers and advertisers in the Malaysian market.” commented Di Gregorio.
IPGA Ltd has acquired Think Media Sdn Bhd for AUD2.08 million. The website thinkproperty.com.my currently has more than 4,500 Agents advertising approximately 80,000 properties for sale and for rent. It received 178,000 Unique Visitors in May 2010* making it the clear number two property portal in Malaysia. Thinkproperty.com.my also accepts display advertising and has an active property forum and blogging community.
“Following the successful acquisition of SG-house.com in Singapore in June, the acquisition of thinkproperty.com.my in Malaysia further illustrates our commitment to be clear market leaders in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong” commented Di Gregorio
IPGA Reports Record Sign Ups in June
IPGA Ltd (ASX: IPP), the owner of Asia’s No. 1 network of property portal sites under the iProperty umbrella brand (www.iproperty.com), today released its 4C statement with the result underlying the continued investment in the growth of the business. In June 2010, the company recorded its largest number of new customer sign ups and record consumer traffic to its network of property portals.
“It’s been a tremendous first half of the calendar year with the business achieving a record number of new agent sign ups and a record number of consumers viewing our websites. Each of our core markets of Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong have grown strongly and we continue to develop a platform for future growth as we build on our market leading positions in these three countries” said IPGA CEO, Shaun Di Gregorio.
“With our continued investment in the business, we’ve seen a marked improvement in the productivity of our sales force which has driven the great result in new customers sign ups. At the same time our ability to drive consumer traffic to our websites has become more sophisticated as we focus on being more innovative and dynamic in everything we do. We’ve also significantly improved the quality and experience of our Senior Management team with a number of new appointments over recent months” commented Di
Gregorio
“With a clear strategy in place and the right team to lead us into the future, we are a very optimistic business. Continued growth in new Agent sign ups combined with a focus on providing consumers with the best possible user experience when searching for properties are the fundamentals of our business. We intend to continue to excel in these areas and build on our market leading positions in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong” added Di Gregorio
“It’s a very exciting time to be the CEO of such a passionate and committed group of people who are all intently focused on ensuring the business succeeds ” said Di Gregorio.
Former REA Group General Manager, Shaun Di Gregorio, was appointed as CEO of IPGA Ltd in January 2010.
iProperty.com Singapore Acquires SG?House.com
iProperty.com Singapore acquires SG?House.com – the leading Singapore property forum famed for its vibrant community and devoted following – and shoots up to number one spot among Singapore’s property websites with an estimated monthly average of
more than 400,000* unique visitors, overtaking its nearest rival. The acquisition of SG?House.com signals the iProperty.com Group’s resolve and determination to achieve clear market leadership in Singapore, along with its market?leading operations in Malaysia and Hong Kong.
With the acquisition of this online forum, iProperty.com Singapore adds the element of community and discussion to its powerful property search engine and comprehensive database, thereby boosting its product offerings considerably for property hunters and agents.
Mr Shaun Di Gregorio, Chief Executive Officer of the iProperty.com Group said, “We are very excited about this acquisition. Not only does it clearly define our position as the market leader in Singapore, but is also in line with our commitment to focus on the needs of our customers, to continue to expand our product offerings, and to empower the people using our website with practical tools for
their property searches.”
Added Mr Gregorio, “Property buyers and sellers behave differently in this time and age, and are increasingly using the internet to have conversations, conduct research and gather information before a transaction takes place. We have to stay relevant in this landscape and provide a robust channel for our users and customers. With this acquisition, what it translates to for our customers is
a massive boost in traffic to their listings, that is more people looking at their advertised properties, which of course means more leads for our customers.”
iProperty.com Singapore has plans to incorporate an iProperty.com’s search box into SG?House.com, so that users of SG?House.com can conveniently search for properties as well as participate in informative forum discussions. The latest real estate news from iProperty.com Singapore will also be posted on the SG?House.com to spark more topics for discussion, resulting in further insights for property buyers and enthusiasts, and increased viral marketing for property sellers and agents.
iProperty Gets Good Coverage on CNBC
iProperty (ASX:IPP) received good coverage on CNBC. Simon Bond, private client advisor at RBS Morgans, mentioned IPGA and Origin Energy as two stocks to watch. Check it out on this link at the 3:20 min mark.
IPGA has strong start to 2010 with record number of Agents joining
IPGA Ltd (ASX: IPP), the owner of Asia’s No. 1 network of property portal sites under the iProperty umbrella brand (www.iproperty.com), today released its 4C statement with the result underlying the continued investment in the growth of the business. In March 2010, the Company recorded its largest number of new customer sign ups and is on track to better this record in April.
“We have had a very strong start to the year with excellent growth in the number of new agents subscribing to our websites in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. These are our three core markets. The record we set for new customer growth in March looks like being bettered again in April and this has coincided with a record number of consumers visiting our websites” said IPGA CEO, Shaun Di Gregorio.
“We are continuing to invest in the growth of our business particularly in the area of sales and marketing where we have doubled the size of our sales force and launched consumer marketing campaigns in each country. To support this growth we are very focused on improving the skills and capabilities of our people, becoming more innovative in the products we are developing and improving our IT infrastructure. This is all focused on building upon the market leading positions that we have established in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore” commented Di Gregorio
“We recently raised AU$2.5 million in a rights issue to fund our further growth. We have a very clear strategy and the business is very focused on executing the plan we have in place. Over the last three months we have improved our ability to sign new customers, become more proactive in our marketing and increased our innovation levels with product releases like the iPhone app in Malaysia and the revamp of our site in Hong Kong; gohome.com.hk” added Di Gregorio
“It’s a very exciting time for the business” said Di Gregorio.
Former REA Group General Manager, Shaun Di Gregorio, was appointed as CEO of IPGA Ltd in January 2010.
Classified Ad Ventures Featured in The Australian
The following is an extract from a feature article in today’s Australian newspaper by Peter Switzer. It provides a great overview of Classified Ad Ventures and what we are up to.
SIMON Baker’s entrepreneurial journey takes him from geekdom to the power trip of top consulting firm McKinseys, on to the corporate corridors of News Limited to build an online business for someone else, then to eventually deciding to do it for himself.
When it comes to Baker, his history — informational technology graduate, ex-IBM’er, ex-McKinsey consultant and formerly with a southern California online start-up — has to be understood to get a handle on what he is doing now and what lies ahead. In essence, this is true of most online entrepreneurs who worked their way through the dotcom boom and bust.
There are two parts to his new venture: an investment company called CAV Investment Holdings; then there is an incubator called Classified Ad Ventures. The investment company owns stakes in businesses such as Australian Securities Exchange-listed IPGA (iProperty.com in Asia) and Quickflix, as well as realestate.co.jp in Japan, Homethinking in the US, CarAdvice, RedBubble and ArtsHub.
Here is the full article in The Australian.
IPGA Successfully Completes Rights Issue
IPGA (ASX: IPP), the owner and operator of the iProperty sites throughout Asia, has successully closed its rights issue. The company raised approximately $2.53 million before costs. These new funds will be used to rapidly drive sales and marketing in its three core markets of Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
IPGA Delivers Strong Growth in Core Online Advertising Business in 2009
IPGA Limited (ASX:IPP), the owner and operator of market leading real estate portals in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, today announced revenues of $4.05 million and a loss of $1.32 million from continuing operations for the full year 2009.
| AU$ millions | 2009 | 2008 | Growth |
| Revenues from Continuing Operations | 4.05 | 4.13 | (2.0%) |
| NPAT from Continuing Operations | (1.32) | (0.54) | (143.5%) |
| Operational Cash Flow | (0.75) | (1.15) | 34.3% |
Underlying the slight decrease in revenue was a 50.1% growth in the core online advertising revenue from $1.54 million to $2.39 million. Offsetting the growth in online advertising was the under performance of the magazine business in Malaysia and a reduction in the scale of exhibitions staged by the events business.
IPGA Appoints New Director and Chairman
February 4, 2010 – IPGA Ltd (ASX: IPP), owner of Asia’s No. 1 network of property websites under the iProperty.com brand (www.iproperty.com), announced today a number of changes to the composition and structure of its Board of Directors.
Non-Executive Director, Simon Baker has been appointed Chairman of the Board, with former Executive Chairman, Patrick Grove, moving to a Non-Executive role, and assuming the title of Deputy Chairman. The Board has also elected a new Director, Luke Elliott, to join its ranks.
Said Baker, “It’s an honor to take over the Chairmanship of IPGA. The business has established itself as a leader in online real estate advertising in the region and is well positioned to take advantage of the rapid growth online property advertising in Asia. I look forward to working with the Board and the Company’s management to realise IPGA’s tremendous potential.”
