Executive Shake-up At Coty
Laurent Kleitman is leaving the company, and ceo Pierre Laubies is stepping in to directly oversee the division.
Coty Inc. announced a series of executive leadership changes, some of which highlight the troubles it has been facing in its most challenged division, Consumer Beauty.
Pierre-André Terisse has been appointed chief financial officer and a member of the Executive Committee, effective Feb. 1. Terisse, formerly the group cfo of Danone, will be based in London. The appointment comes after the resignation in September of executive vice president and global chief financial officer Patrice de Talhouët.
Additionally, Coty announced that chief executive officer Pierre Laubies will begin to directly oversee the strategic vision for the Consumer Beauty division — the company's most challenged since the integration of the 41 beauty brands it acquired from Procter & Gamble in 2016.
Laubies will be supported by Gianni Pieraccioni, who has been appointed chief operating officer, Coty Consumer Beauty, effective Jan. 14. Pieraccioni will be based out of the New York office. He was until 2017 chief operating officer of Revlon
Inc. At Coty, he is tasked with leading Consumer Beauty in-market organization, e-commerce and supply chain, focusing on commercial operations.
As part of the changes in Consumer Beauty leadership, Consumer Beauty president Laurent Kleitman is departing the company. He was hired twenty months ago to oversee the struggling division, which includes brands such as CoverGirl, Clairol, Rimmel and Sally Hansen.
Since completing its acquisition of 41 beauty brands from P&G in 2016 and despite major rebranding efforts on its key mass market brands, Coty has struggled to improve sales performance in a challenged U.S. mass retail landscape.
Consumer Beauty sales plummeted last year — down 20.6 percent in the fourth quarter, to $828.8 million. Part of that was because of the supply chain disruptions, but Coty said that the category's developed markets deteriorated in the quarter.
In the U.S. market, Coty's portfolio of consumer brands ended the year on a slightly improved note, though still with sales in the negative, according to Nielsen data tracking the last 52 weeks ending
Dec. 29, 2018. The brand portfolio was down nine percent on a four-week-basis, up slightly from negative 10 percent the previous year. Cover Girl was down 6.6 percent for the year, Rimmel was down 14.6 percent, Sally Hansen down 8.6 percent and Clairol down 8.2 percent.
This morning's announcement of changes to the Consumer Beauty executive leadership team come after a series of Coty executive changes in the department this summer, including the departure of Shannon Curtin, who was senior vice president of Consumer Beuaty for North America.
Former Coty ceo Camillo Pane's resignation was revealed in November, along with the appointment of Laubies.
Additional leadership changes announced this morning include the appointment of Luc Volatier to chief global supply officer and member of the executive committee, effective Jan 15. Ezra ErkalPaler, chief corporate affairs officer, is also leaving Coty to pursue other opportunities. Going forward, the corporate affairs function will be integrated into Coty's “three divisions and functions.”