John McGrath is back at the helm of the company he founded thirty year ago, after the board of the company resigned yesterday, and after the company issued its fourth profit downgrade in the two years it has been listed.

The resignations and profit downgrade, and McGrath's return to the leadership, have created speculation that the company might return to private ownership.

CEO Cameron Judson, company secretary Morgan Slower, and chairman Cass O'Connor have resigned, and directors Elizabeth Crouch, Cath Rogers, and Nigel Dews will also step down.

The board says it expects EBITDA  (earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation) will be $1.63 million for the six months to December, but one off costs associated with restructuring will result in a $50,000 loss.

McGrath said earnings have been "adversely affected by underperformance in the company owned sales division."

"I am very disappointed with the performance of the company over the last two years. Now is the time for a new approach," he said.

McGrath shares plummeted 14 per cent yesterday to a record low of 50 cents, and are now down 75 per cent from their listing value of two years ago.

At the time of writing, the shares were trading at 51 cents.

Domain CEO Catalano resigns

Coincidentally, the CEO of recently listed real estate advertising company, Domain, also resigned on Monday.

Antony Catalano said he was leaving for family reasons, but his departure comes only two months after Domain was spun out from the SMH.

Catalano has eight children.

Catalano said, "When I re-joined Fairfax in November 2013, I made a commitment to my young family that I could be there for them and do the job."

"It has become clear to me that doing the job of a listed company CEO the way it needs to be done means that I am not meeting that family commitment."

Some shareholders are hoping that Greg Ellis, who ran REA Group from 2008 until 2014, will replace Catalano. But media reports claim he is fully committed to a new role in Germany, where he will start up a real-estate marketing business. Ellis was recently appointed to Domain's board.

Domain expects revenue growth of 13 per cent for the first half of the 2018 financial year, which is in line with the guidance provided last September. 

The company expects growth in first-half digital revenue of 22 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Domain shares plummeted 17 per cent on news of Catalano's resignation, but are trading higher today.

At the time of writing the stock was trading at $3.01. The stock was floated with an opening price of $3.80.

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