Douglas Elliman wants a CFO to call its own

Douglas Elliman is ready to go its own way when it comes to its chief financial officer position.

The residential brokerage announced Tuesday it is commencing the search to fill the role more than a year and a half after its spinoff from Vector Group. Elliman has reached an “appropriate time” to bring in a CFO “exclusively dedicated” to the brokerage, CEO Howard Lorber said in a statement.  

J. Bryant Kirkland III, who also serves as CFO at the conglomerate that formerly owned Elliman, will remain in the post with the brokerage until the company names a successor. 

The brokerage’s stock started the day at $2.45 per share, but had fallen to $2.30 per share in the hours after the news. 

Elliman has been piling up losses in recent quarters, beset by the same problems facing all residential players: high mortgage rates, listing inventory shortages and market volatility. The brokerage reported in the first quarter a net loss of $17.6 million, just shy of the $18 million it lost during the fourth quarter but a sharp rise from the $6.5 million lost a year earlier.

Despite the losses, Lorber expressed optimism in the May earnings call that Elliman would have a solid second half of the year. The executive cited a rise in listings from the fourth quarter to first quarter, along with adjustments by buyers in the face of high mortgage rates and sellers adapting their pricing to the state of the market. 

The firm is “weathering the current macroeconomic challenges” by implementing cost-reduction strategies, Lorber said in May.

Elliman reduced its headcount by 35 positions in the first quarter as a cost-reduction measure. It also cut some sponsorships, streamlined advertising and launched a program to consolidate office space.

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