Pexa Group shares tank on local CEO exit, guidance downgrade
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More news: Pexa Group was the worst performing ASX 200 company in early trading after it announced the resignation of Australia CEO Les Vance, who was only appointed last year, and downgraded its specified items and income tax guidance.
Pexa shares were down 5.8% to $12.09 by 10:40am AEDT.
Pexa Group's Australia CEO Les Vance resigns
The news: Online property settlements company Pexa Group has announced the resignation of its Australia chief executive Les Vance, after less than a year in the role.
The numbers: Vance was appointed Pexa's Australia CEO in April last year, having served as chief operating officer and chief customer and commercial officer since joining the company in 2022. He previously spent 14 years in leadership roles at Westpac.
Separately, Pexa said it expects to report higher costs in relation to specified items and income tax expenses. The group revised its specified items guidance from a loss of between $15 million and $20 million, to a loss of $35 million to $40 million.
The change reflects a non-cash charge of around $15 million relating to the impairment of a minority investment, the company said. The revised guidance range also reflects an expectation that the total of other specified items will be at the "upper end" of previous guidance.
Pexa also changed its guidance in relation to income tax expenses. It now expects full-year income tax expenses of between $40 million and $45 million, compared to a range of $13 million to $18 million previously guided.
The company said it expects to de-recognise around $19 million of deferred tax assets in its first-half results. It also noted that its effective Australian tax rate was higher than anticipated during the first-half period.
What they said: "With the change of leadership at Pexa Group, I believe that now is the right time for me to pursue other career opportunities," Vance said.
"I remain deeply passionate about PEXA, its critical role in the Australian property ecosystem and its global prospects."
Pexa's managing director and CEO Glenn King said: "He [Vance] has driven its ongoing growth and maintained the disciplined financial performance of the PEXA Exchange, and innovation in our fast-growing PEXA Digital Solutions".
"While we are sorry to see him go, we respect his decision," King said.
The sources: ASX announcement, ASX announcement, Pexa media release
