Here are 3 ASX 100 shares with entrenched and dominant positions in their respective markets. All 3 have seen very strong share price growth over the past decade, and I believe that this strong growth is set to continue.
All 3 companies also operate in the online classifieds space. SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) operates in the online employment classifieds market, while REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) operates in the real estate classifieds market and Carsales.com Ltd (ASX: CAR) operates in the automotive classifieds market.
Early on in the last decade, all 3 grew very strongly from the migration of online to print migration in their respective industry sectors. That growth has now slowed right down, as the vast majority of the classifieds markets have transitioned to the online environment. While there is still online growth potential in local markets from products such as premium listings, most of their growth is now coming from overseas markets.
REA Group
REA Group's footprint spans 3 continents with businesses in Australia, Asia and North America. In Australia, it continues to be the clear market leader over rival Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG).
Despite the downturn in the housing market for the 2 years up to mid-2019, REA Group's share price has continued to perform well, up over 50% over the past 12 months.
REA Group's FY19 results saw revenue growth of 8% to $875 million, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) growth of 8% to $501 million.
In Hong Kong, REA Group recently obtained leadership position and it already has market-leading positions in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Carsales
Carsales has been one of the star performers of the ASX 100, with its share price rising by an impressive 37.5% over the past 12 months. It has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 31.1%, which is quite reasonable for a high quality and established growth share. The Carsales total shareholder return over the 10 years to October 2019 increased by a very impressive 364%.
Carsales has also had a solid start to the FY20 year in Q1 in its Core Australian Dealer and Private businesses. In its Display advertising division, it is anticipating a lift in FY20, despite challenging market conditions.
In FY19, the vast majority of Carsales' growth came from its overseas operations, in particular its Asian division, which grew by 119%.
Seek
Although market conditions remain challenging, Seek remains on path to meet its revenue and profitability growth in FY20. Its recent management guidance expects revenue growth of between 15% and 18% and EBITDA growth of 8% to 11%.
Seek's main local competitive threat is not from other local websites, but from the global business network giant LinkedIn.
It continues to making significant investments in new businesses and ventures to support future global growth opportunities.
Foolish takeaway
All these 3 providers have dominant positions in their respective markets, and I believe they will continue to see strong share price growth over the next decade.
