Domain admits errors in results presentation after complaints by rival REA

Nine Entertainment-controlled property platform Domain had to correct information it delivered at its full-year results presentation after receiving a complaint from its biggest rival.

Domain CEO Jason Pellegrino.

Nine Entertainment-controlled property platform Domain has admitted a slide shown at its full-year results presentation included incorrect information and was amended after the company received a written complaint from its main rival, REA Group.

The embarrassing blunder occurred on the same day that David Hyman, chief executive of one of Australia’s largest mortgage brokers, Lendi, lashed out at the real estate company after Domain CEO Jason Pellegrino said it was looking to end their joint venture.

During the presentation on Thursday, Mr Pellegrino put up a slide outlining the company’s residential audience numbers and he compared its audience with REA-owned realestate.com.au.

REA, which is majority-owned by News Corporation (publisher of The Australian), sent correspondence to Domain’s chief legal and transformation officer Catriona McGregor that day and complained that the slide was wrong.

REA chief legal officer Tamara Kayser said it equated to false, misleading and deceptive conduct and was a breach of Australian consumer law.

Ms Kayser said the bar chart on page 20 of the Domain’s investor presentation had no scale or axis, no audience number for realestate.com.au, included commercial real estate data to “artificially inflate the perceived performance of its residential business” and featured larger bars for Domain’s audience despite “the clear audience leadership of realestate.com.au”.

She requested that Domain “correct the record immediately”.

Lendi CEO David Hyman.

Domain is controlled by Nine Entertainment, which has a 60 per cent stake in the company. Nine is also the publisher of mastheads including the Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

The following day Ms McGregor issued a correction to the ASX and conceded the company had made mistakes in its presentation and had subsequently updated the graph.

“In further review in slide 20 of the Domain investor presentation, it has come to our attention that the visual representation of the two bar graphs side-by-side was not true to scale,” she said in the statement sent to the ASX.

“We have updated slide 20 as attached, by removing the bar graph of the “major competitor” with flow on changes to relevant sourcing.

“Domain takes compliance with the ASX listing rules seriously and systems have been put in place to ensure this is not repeated.”

Domain’s profit for the 2023 financial year plunged 19 per cent to $26.1m, year on year, and was well below the $39.1m expected.

On Thursday Lendi’s boss, Mr Hyman, accused Domain of announcing a “factually incorrect and fundamentally misleading statement to the market claiming Domain Home Loans is for sale”.

During the presentation Mr Pellegrino said “Domain has made a decision to pursue a sale exit of the business”, a claim Mr Hyman said he had no knowledge of.

“Lendi Group is not aware of any active sale process for the Domain Home Loan JV and confirms that it is not a buyer of Domain’s stake in the business,” he said in a statement.

“We were surprised to read Domain announced to the market its stake in Domain Home Loans is for sale and it is pursuing other opportunities outside of the DHL joint venture”.

Since 2017 Lendi Group has invested in Domain Home Loans.

Domain’s share price closed at $3.61 on Friday.