6. Coty
www.coty.com
Beauty Sales: $9.3 billion
Key Personnel: Pierre Laubies, chief executive officer; Gianni Pieraccioni, chief operating officer, Consumer Beauty; Sylvie Moreau, president, Professional Beauty; Edgar Huber, president, Coty Luxury.
Major Brands: Luxury, Professional and Consumer products from brands including Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Chloé, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Tiffany & Co, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu; Wella, OPI, ghd, System Professional, philosophy, Nioxin, Sassoon, Sebastian, Clairol; CoverGirl, Clairol, Rimmel, Adidas, Bourjois, Sally Hansen, Max Factor, Wella, Monage, Risqué, Bruno Banani, Katy Perry, James Bond 007, Mexx, Nautica Fragrances, Biocolor, Bozzano, Cenoura & Bronze, Paixão.
New Products: Obsessed by Calvin Klein, Tiffany & Co, Gucci Bloom, Burberry Beauty (license), Daisy Love Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu Twist, OPI ProHealth GelColor System, Nice n Easy hair color (relaunch), WellaPlex, Wella Professional Smart Mirror.
Comments: After splashing out $12.5 billion to acquire a stable of beauty brands from P&G back in 2015/2016, Coty spent 2018 managing the ripple effect of the purchase, trying to appease investors and rebalance its bottom line. In fiscal 2018, Coty focused on integrating, restructuring and optimizing the combined organization, divesting or terminating 14 brands spanning CLC, Celine Dion, Cutex, Esprit, Guess, Halle Berry, JLo, Lady Gaga, Love2Love, Playboy, Summer and Tim McGraw within Consumer Beauty, and Cerruti and Chopard, which were reported in the luxury segment. By year's end, the company posted a 23% net revenue increase, with incremental net revenues from the acquisition of the P&G beauty business comprising 13% of the total percentage net revenue increase.
Revenue gains in the company's luxury beauty segment also jumped 25% to $3.2 billion thanks in part to the successful launches of Tiffany & Co., Gucci Bloom and Obsessed by Calvin Klein. The Consumer Beauty Division posted 16% gains to $4.2 billion and Professional Beauty saw net revenues rise 38% to $1.9 billion.
North America, Coty's largest market, saw net revenues increase 18% to $2.9 billion primarily due to acquisition. Excluding the acquisitions, North American revenue decreased 3% due to declines in color cosmetics in the U.S.
Overall Q4 growth in luxury and professional beauty were offset by declines in Consumer Beauty, where ill-timed supply chain disruptions at two major distribution centers in the U.S. and UK challenged the company's ability to meet product demand and subsequently dinged revenues. In brighter cosmetics news, CoverGirl achieved "Leaping Bunny" Certification in November after Coty forged a partnership with Cruelty Free International which aims to end animal testing for cosmetics globally. CoverGirl's certification was achieved following an audit of the brand's supply chain and ingredients to confirm products and ingredients are not tested on animals either by Coty or its suppliers.
A flurry of top-down personnel changes also occurred. Pierre Laubies replaced Camillo Pane as Coty CEO, then in February Gianni Pieraccioni was hired as chief operating officer, Consumer Beauty. He was previously president, Revlon Consumer Division and COO of Revlon Inc. until 2017. Pierre-André Terisse joined the company as chief financial officer, after having served as CFO of Danone for seven years. Fiona Hughes joined Coty as chief marketing officer, Coty Consumer Beauty. Esra Erkal-Paler, formerly global head of external communications at AstraZeneca, was appointed chief global corporate affairs officer and a member of the executive committee.
News of Note in 2019: In early 2019, JAB Holding Co., which was already Coty's largest shareholder, spent around $1.7 billion to increase its ownership from 40% to 60%, gaining majority control. The move didn't go over well with public investors, who not long thereafter initiated a class action lawsuit against the company, its directors and JAB.
In July, Coty announced a bold turnaround strategy structured to put the "the new Coty" on better brand confidence footing and quell concerns. But the news launched Coty's stock into a tailspin, falling nearly 15%, with underwhelmed investors saying the $600 million plan fell short of expectations, considering the company said it expected a net revenue decline in fiscal 2020. In August the company terminated its partnership with the Younique brand.
In Q4, Coty reported a 4.1% decrease in organic net revenues. The company's Consumer Beauty segment revenues tumbled 15.2% to $902 million, Professional also fell 7% to $458.3 million. Luxury was the lone bright spot, climbing just 1.7% to $754.7 million. Overall sales in North America were down 14% to $658 million, European sales also slid 10% to $866 million. ALMEA sales gained 2% to $592 million.
In September, the company strengthened its leadership organization for its supply chain, implementing action plans and focusing on the key value creation objectives. Coty said its procurement function and supply operations will be organizationally disassociated and reinforced, and both will report directly to CEO Pierre Laubies and sit at the executive committee. Ad interim, procurement will be led by Gianluca Colombo, chief procurement officer, and supply operations will be led by Jean--Claude Thomas.
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