Catalano at play as Falloon calms Domain investors

As Domain chairman Nick Falloon calmed investors in Sydney, Antony Catalano grabbed a coffee in seaside Sorrento.

Antony Catalano gets a morning coffee at a Sorrento restaurant yesterday after his shock departure from Domain. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Domain chairman Nick Falloon was calming anxious investors yesterday as former chief executive Antony Catalano grabbed a morning coffee in Sorrento, Victoria’s seaside playground of the rich and famous, a world away from the corporate disruption back in Sydney.

Amid the multi-million-dollar waterfront properties that the company he so abruptly left is ­reliant on for lucrative real estate listings, Mr Catalano looked casual in shorts, T-shirt and a zip-up hoodie at Itali.co, a modern ­Italian eatery serving gourmet pizzas and pasta.

As Mr Catalano went on the morning coffee run, it has emerged he has surrendered yet another big payday.

If he had stayed on, the options that would have vested over three years would have delivered him Domain shares worth $13.23 million if he reached all his performance targets, according to filings released to the ASX on Tuesday night.

The options package — based on yesterday’s share price — comes on top of his fixed annual pay cheque of $1.2m.

Asked whether he thought investors deserved an apology for their losses, Mr Catalano told the Herald Sun: “Why should I be sorry?”

The 50-year-old, who has eight children from three mar­riages, cited family reasons for quitting.

Following the shock resignation of Mr Catalano on Monday just two months into a stockmarket listing, it was left to Mr Falloon to reassure investors after they reacted to the news by lopping more than $500m off ­Domain and key shareholder Fairfax Media’s market value.

Shares in Domain recovered some lost ground yesterday to close up 3.4 per cent at $3.11.

Mr Falloon, the former Ten Network boss who is now executive chairman of Domain as well as chairman of Fairfax, hit the phones to investors, declaring “we have a deep bench of ­executives built up over the years”, ­according to one investor speaking on a condition of ­anonymity.

Mr Falloon has received expressions of interest from corporate headhunters and is said to be close to appointing a firm to lead a domestic and international search.

Among Domain’s internal candidates for the top job are chief financial officer Rob Doyle, chief editorial and marketing officer Melina Cruickshank, chief ­operating officer Graeme Plowman, chief commercial officer Tony Blamey and group director Simon Kent.

A “highly active” Mr Falloon told investors the core leadership team felt “relaxed” about Mr Cata­lano’s exit, and would not need a new strategic direction. “It was business as usual; for Dom­ain, business is booming,” he said.

Analysts are worried any loss of Mr Catalano’s deep relationships with agents posed a risk to Domain. All five leaders are said to be in the mix to succeed Mr Catalano if the company appoints an internal candidate.

Mr Catalano parted company with Domain for “family reasons”, Mr Falloon iterated, amid speculation that other reasons were behind the surprise news.

Mr Catalano has said it became “apparent that I needed to relocate to Sydney and that was something I wouldn’t ask my family to do”.

Mr Falloon told investors trading was in line with expectations, as disclosed to the ASX in a recent statement, with guidance for the half year unchanged.