* Fairfax annual NPAT A$83.9 mln vs net loss of A$772.6 bln 2016
* Underlying pre-tax profit A$271 mln vs guidance of A$262-266 mln
* Final dividend 2 cents, steady with previous year (Recasts with milestone, adds Domain listing update, outlook, shares)
SYDNEY, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Australia's biggest newspaper publisher Fairfax Media Ltd FXJ.AX on Wednesday posted its highest annual net profit in three years, beating its own guidance, as it benefited from cost-cutting and an improvement in property listings.
Fairfax, which saw two private equity firms walk away from takeover bids in July, posted a net profit of A$83.9 million ($65.64 million) for the year ended in June, compared with a net loss of A$772.6 million a year ago.
Underlying pre-tax profit of A$271.1 million was down 4.3 percent on the prior year but ahead of the guidance Fairfax gave a month earlier of between $262 million and A$266 million. media companies around the world have been under pressure to adapt to the internet as readers seek out free online alternatives and advertisers concentrate their spending on global websites like Facebook Inc FB.O and Google Inc GOOGL.O .
The 176-year-old publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and other newpapers has focused on building earnings at its property classifieds unit, Domain, which it plans to spin off in a listing by the end of November.
Domain grew online revenue - which accounts for four-fifths of that unit's total revenue - 19 percent even as listing volumes dipped in the first half, Fairfax said on Wednesday.
Fairfax gave limited earnings guidance, saying only that revenue trends for Domain in fiscal 2018 were expected to be "more in line" with the second half of 2016-17, with digital revenue up 22 percent and print revenue down 14 percent.
Fairfax gave a more specific timeline for its Domain listing, saying it planned to have the unit listed by the end of November with Fairfax to keep a 60 percent stake.
The company declared a final dividend of 2 cents per share, unchanged from the previous year.
Fairfax shares were up 2 percent in early trading, while the broader market was flat.
($1 = 1.2781 Australian dollars)