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Seasoned property industry veteran Geoff Lucas is stepping down as CEO and managing director of The Agency (ASX: AU1) just three years and six months after joining the relatively young group that has grown to manage 10,092 properties and sold another $3.3 billion worth of them in the December half.
The group released a rather curt announcement about the departure of Lucas, merely saying that he "has had his contract with the company terminated, with immediate effect", without any mention of any achievements throughout his tenure or explanations as to why it has come to an end.
"The departure of the Managing Director and CEO will have no impact on the day-to-day operation of The Agency or its people," the company stated.
Lucas tells Business News Australia that after achieving growth at The Agency, he will spend around six months on gardening leave before seeking out the next opportunity.
"I have a great passion and love for the people in The Agency. I think they're on a great platform - I think it's the best platform in Australia," he says.
"This business is partway on its growth opportunity. I like to think that I've been a fairly instrumental part of that platform and getting it to where it is."
The Agency ran at a $4.3 million loss in FY23 although its underlying earnings were back in the black in the December half at around $560,000.
"That was a meaningful turnaround - not large numbers, but a meaningful turnaround. I think it represents the fact that the company is now an attraction brand. I think people are starting to understand it more," he adds.
In Lucas' absence, CEO responsibilities will be shared by chief operating officer Andrew Jensen, real estate CEO for the East Coast, Matt Lahood, and West Coast executive director Paul Niardone, who was managing director before Lucas joined.
The outgoing executive's stint with The Agency is short compared to his previous time at McGrath Real Estate Agents for more than 11 years, of which around eight were as chief operating officer before a short gap, and returning as CEO from 2018 to 2020.
"I'm a growth person. I love growing businesses," Lucas tells Business News Australia.
"Normally, what I do in organisations is to go in for somewhere between three to four years and start to the grow them," says Lucas, who prior to his work at McGrath led the initial public offering of Credit Corp Group (ASX: CCP).
"Myself and Matt Lahood are good friends and great associates. I think we've done a very good job over the past three years in growing the scale, but also growing the quality of the brand."
The Agency expects to start a formal recruitment process for Lucas' replacement shortly.
Lucas received remuneration of $750,328 in FY23, which was down from $1.18 million in the previous financial year due to a lower options component. Lucas currently holds 1.87 million shares in the company, which would be worth approximately $46,795 at the current share price.
AU1 shares fell 10.71 per cent following the announcement to 2.5 cents per share (cps).
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