Carsales CEO Cameron McIntyre has blamed Australia’s banking royal commission for continued difficulties in the vehicle sales site’s financing division, though he expects “moderate” growth in the second half of 2019. For the first half of 2019, Carsales’ net profit was down 82 per cent to $11.1 million, which Mr McIntyre said was due to legislative changes affecting lending and the tighter credit market. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) banned ‘flex commissions’ in November, which used to allow car dealers and brokers to get bigger bonuses for getting customers signed up on higher interest rates. “As detailed in our market announcement in December, our Finance and Related Services business continues to be impacted by credit tightening as a result of the Financial Services Royal Commission and the recent ASIC legislative changes," Mr McIntyre said in a statement.

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