Financial analysts and retailers await the first moves by Coty’s newly minted chief executive officer, Elio Leoni Sceti. Will he be the one who can restore the company to its former prominence in the fragrance and beauty industries, they ask?
Sceti, who will join Coty in July, was most recently ceo of Iglo Group, Europe’s leading frozen-brand food company (the company behind the Birds Eye brand), raising some eyebrows if there’s synergy between frozen foods, fragrance and foundations.
Wall Street’s View: Although noting Sceti is light in beauty experience, financial analysts think he has the right vision. “He’s known for implementing change to better align in the digital era by emphasizing digital marketing initiatives and brand investment productivity,” said Stephanie S. Wissink, senior research analyst, Piper Jaffray & Co. It doesn’t hurt that he knows his way around acquisitions — something the street expects from Coty on the horizon. On the day his new position was announced, Iglo was sold to Nomad Holdings Ltd.
Reestablishing Retail Connections: Retailers said Sceti’s first chore should be repairing ruptured buyer-seller relations. He also has to convince chain executives he’s the right man for the job. “Have they ever thought of getting someone from the industry to do the job,” one buyer questioned upon his appointment.
The trade’s major lament is that its Coty brands are “slow to go to market” in a business where flankers are not enough to move the sales needle. That said, they are willing to give him a chance, noting his ties to the music industry that bode well for further celebrity scent launches and his past experience at Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser.