Adrian Bo

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<p>The listing volumes of homes for sale remained subdued, which restricted the potential for any big lift in earnings at the publicly listed McGrath estate agency.</p>
<p>And its chief executive Geoff Lucas cautioned that the recent major capital city price jump was likely not sustainable on an annualised basis.</p>
<p>While the three months to October saw property prices in the Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan markets increase by 5 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively, Lucas advised he did "not expect this rate of growth to continue.”</p>
<p>He told shareholders the business was recovering.</p>
<p>“While recent above reserve prices, increased auction clearance rates and buyer engagement levels have all improved sentiment, all of which might improve listing levels, we do not see evidence yet of any sustainable improvement,” he said.</p>
<p>McGrath has been busy buying rent rolls.</p>
<p>The company’s rent roll is conservatively valued at $49.4 million, and its Oxygen trailing commission at $2.6 million, while the company has only recognised $11.1m on its balance sheet.</p>
<p>The Australian reported funds managers at the meeting pointed to the value in the company’s rent rolls and the potential for it to grow in future.</p>
<p>Lucas told shareholders at yesterday's annual general meeting that October new listings in Sydney and Melbourne were respectively 6.6 per cent and 15.8 per cent lower than prior year numbers.</p>
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<p>"It is volumes however that are contributing to most of the challenges in the industry and whilst we have seen some recent improvements, new listings for the industry are still down on the prior year," Mr Lucas said.</p>
<p>"While recent above reserve prices, increased auction clearance rates and buyer engagement levels have all improved sentiment, all of which might improve listing levels, we do not see evidence yet of any sustainable improvement."</p>
<p>The company said it expected to post earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of between $1 to $1.5 million in the first half of the year, a lift from a $10.1 million EBITDA loss for the whole of 2019.</p>
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<p>Lucas would not be drawn into offering any forecast statutory net profit, which has been in the red over the past two years.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></p>
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<p>The company was confident however it could maintain an upward momentum but cautioned the recovery would not be swift.</p>
<p>"We’re pleased to advise that there are some promising signs starting to come through in the market," chief executive Geoff Lucas said.</p>
<p>The Chinese developer Aqualand lifted its investment in the ASX listed McGrath estate agency from 15 per cent to 18.5 per cent last month.</p>
<p>The increase in its stake followed Aqualand’s acquisition of an <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/85531-mcgrath-secure-10-7-million-strategic-investment-by-aqualand" target="_blank">initial 15 per cent in McGrath last year</a>. </p>
<p>Aqualand will remain McGrath’s second largest shareholder, behind John McGrath's own 22 percent stake.</p>
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<p>The annual general meeting came amid sex harassment allegations that came to light last week in the Daily Telegraph.</p>
<p>Shareholders fear it could impede the company's road to recovery, as it involves its head of sales, Adrian Bo who denies any misdoing.</p>
<p>Mr Lucas said investigations were still ongoing.</p>
<p>John McGrath has been drafted in as the temporary head of the McGrath sales team in the leave of absence being taken Adrian Bo.</p>
<p>The role of company sales team leader was shared by Mr Bo and Mr McGrath following <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/99540-kon-stathopoulos-departs-mcgrath-estate-agents" target="_blank">the departure in June of Kon Stathopoulos</a>.</p>
<p>The company's share price closed at 30¢ on Thursday, up 1¢ from Wednesday.</p>
<p>Its debut IPO price in 2016 was $2.10, and it <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/101958-mcgrath-estate-agents-trading-at-all-time-low-of-19-5-cents" target="_blank">traded at an all time low in June</a>.</p>
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Cautious McGrath see emerging prospect of recovery in earnings

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<p>Estate agent Adrian Bo's career with McGrath, which began in 1994, has ended amid a disputed sexual harassment claim.</p>
<p>It was 30 years ago that he joined the real estate industry after briefly working at the Rivkin stockbroking firm on graduating from school.</p>
<p>He started in residential leasing.</p>
<p>He was part of the original foundation McGrath team, which made it harder for the agent to be told to go.</p>
<p>The chief of the luckless McGrath agency, Geoff Lucas announced on Tuesday evening that Bo’s contract had been terminated.</p>
<p>Lucas has since warned staff not to speak to the media on the matter in a leaked internal memo.</p>
<p>“If you are approached by any external party seeking comment or information with respect to the investigation, you are directed to provide no comment.</p>
<p>“If any employee provides comment in such circumstances it may result in disciplinary action.”</p>
<p><span>The memo also advised staff that any conversations about the investigation, the recommendations or findings are “unhelpful and hinder our ability to move forward as an organisation”.</span></p>
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<div id="adspot-1x1_300x250-pos-2" class="ad">At the centre of the latest allegation was a disputed claim Bo recently asked a junior colleague “how many c–ks he had sucked?”</div>
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<div class="ad">The Daily Telegraph which broke the story last month had his departure as front page news today.</div>
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<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2019/12/4/Daily%20Telegraph%20front%20page.jpg" alt=""> <img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2019/12/4/Adrian%20Bo%20Tele.jpeg" alt="">
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<p>Bo took annual leave while the investigation by an HR consultant and an external lawyer was conducted.</p>
<p>Company founder John McGrath stepped into the role of head of sales as Bo and McGrath had briefly shared the role since Kon Stathopoulos departed in June.</p>
<p>The result of inquiry prompted the publicly listed board to terminate Bo’s contract late on Tuesday, effective immediately.</p>
<p>“The company takes its responsibilities of promoting inclusion and workplace safety seriously and will not tolerate breaches of its code of conduct by its contractors or staff members. I am personally committed to ensuring we have an environment that treats all workplace participants fairly and with respect,” Mr Lucas said in a brief 6pm statement.</p>
<p>In the internal email to McGrath staff, Lucas said: “I understand this process has been stressful for a number of people, and it has taken some time to arrive at this conclusion.</p>
<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1">“However it has been important to protect the rights of all parties involved and critical that we followed an independent process complying with our code of conduct and the law.</div>
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<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1">“Behaviours such as bullying, harassment and unlawful discrimination are not acceptable at any time. I also want to take this opportunity to reassure you that we have robust HR processes in place to ensure you are provided with best and most supportive environment in which to undertake your work and career development."</div>
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<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1"><img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2019/12/4/Adrian%20Bo%20Telegraph.jpeg" alt=""></div>
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<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1">Bo sold thousands of apartments and homes during his McGrath career, with his celebrity clients having included Jennifer Hawkins and Jake Wall, Lisa Ho, Mike Willesee and Allyson Langdon, Brett Lee, David Warner and Candice Falzon and Richard Roxburgh and Silvia Colloca.</div>
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<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1">He created a database of all property owners he came across (excluding active buyers) which stood at 12,000 people in 2012, typically doing 10 sales a month from Bondi to Maroubra.</div>
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<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1">He was earning around $2 million a year in gross commissions at the time, which was well above the $60,000 average.</div>
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<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1"><span>Bo has sold over $3.7 billion in gross volume of real estate and for 20 consecutive years has maintained a minimum of 100 transactions most recently generating $2.5 million to $3 million in gross commission income per annum.</span></div>
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<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1">In the past year Bo secured 110 sales totalling <span class="symbol in-sight">$</span><span class="in-sight">1</span><span class="in-sight">4</span><span class="in-sight">5 million.</span><span class="in-sight"><br></span>
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<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1">Bo promoted himself as having "invaluable experience in residential and commercial sales, project marketing and property management."</div>
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<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1">But he once said "I see myself as a glorified telemarketer."</div>
<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1"> </div>
<div class="fe-co-email-widget" data-febuild-id="fe-co-email-widget_1">He added the best agents were "storytellers" - "not fictitious but real life situations."</div>
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<p>Bo had been hand-picked and personally trained by John McGrath to become recognised as "one of Australasia’s top agents, auctioneers, real estate trainers and public speakers."</p>
<p>He had completed his MBA in 2013, with reputed hopes to run the McGrath empire at one point, only to see Geoff Lucas return to the struggling listed agency in February last year.</p>
<p>Bo had become co-head of sales when Kon Stathopoulos departed in June.</p>
<p>Stathopoulos became head of company sales in 2016 when McGrath Limited lost its longtime head of sales, Matt Lahood to The Agency.</p>
<p>The Lahood defection was among many that rocked the group with John McGrath, the founder and then executive director, noting he had <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/64388-john-mcgrath-attacks-defecting-agents-and-pins-hope-on-new-real-estate-app" target="_blank">"zero respect for any of them."</a></p>
<p>The McGrath agency recently left its long-time head office in Edgecliff in Sydney's eastern suburbs.</p>
<p>It has headed to inner-city Pyrmont, although it will take a presence in Double Bay to quell concerns that it could lose clients and disaffected agents.</p>
<p>The agency had already reduced the Edgecliff office size it required on New South Head Road last year in the wake of a high level of departures. </p>
<p>The latest departure from the group was in its NSW Northern Rivers agency with <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/107802-braden-walters-quits-mcgrath-byron-bay-for-belle" target="_blank">Braden Walters now at Belle Byron Bay/Lennox Head</a>.</p>
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Adrian Bo

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