Coty experiences executive changeover as sales struggle

The executives at beauty giant Coty seem to be running for the hills. The company, which owns a large portfolio of beauty brands including CoverGirl, Max Factor and OPI nail polish, warned investors that its sales are struggling this year. Its shares dropped by 22 percent last week after first quarter earnings reveal Coty is down by 57 percent this year.

Coty’s chief executive officer Camillo Pane resigned effective immediately on Monday. Pane had been running Coty since 2016, around the time when the company acquired 41 more cosmetics lines from Procter & Gamble in a 12.5 billion dollar deal. Financial Times reports that Pane has attributed his resignation to “family reasons.” Pierre Laubies, the former chief executive officer of Jacobs Douwe Egberts, has taken over from Pane.

The company’s struggles mainly stem from difficulties integrating its 41 new brands. Coty has credited an array of factors to this strife, including a trucker strike in Brazil, the recent hurricanes in the U.S., and warehousing issues in Germany.

Chairman Bart Becht is also stepping down from his role, to be succeeded by Peter Harf. Becht plans to will remain on the Coty board.