Coty Inc. is cutting the salaries of its chief executive officer, chief financial officer and all non-employee directors by 25 percent, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect business.
Coty ceo Pierre Laubies and cfo and chief operating officer Pierre Andre Terisse will both see their base pay cut through the end of the 2020 fiscal year, which for Coty, ends June 30. Laubies has a base salary of $1.5 million, while Terisse has a base salary of 600,000 Pounds, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Coty said that it expected a 20 percent decline in sales in the third fiscal quarter, but that it was trying to make up for some of those declines with plans to push harder with Amazon and launch Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Skin in Europe.
“The company has reviewed its financial position in view of the current market conditions, which are expected to amplify moving into [the fourth quarter]. Coty confirms that following the amendment of its financing arrangements in 2019, it has ample and sufficient liquidity and headroom to meet its covenants based on management’s current view of market conditioners,” the company said in the statement.
At the same time as Coty weathers the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has said it is pushing forward with the sale of its professional division, which it had hoped would sell by this summer. That deal is expected to help the business pay down debt — something it has struggled with since the acquisition of 41 beauty brands from Procter & Gamble in 2016 — and simplify the business around core categories like fragrance, skin and makeup.
Laubies is slated to depart after that sale closes, and will be replaced by former Jimmy Choo ceo and Coty board member Pierre Denis.
For more from WWD.com, see:
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Coty’s New CEO Has Beauty Experience. But Is That Enough?
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