Italian group Geox has replaced its CEO, announcing the appointment of Enrico Mistron to the position, on the heels of reports that the company's sales will fall by 2,2% in 2023, to 720 million euros, writes Footwearnews.com.
Enrico Mistron will join the footwear company as CEO, replacing Livio Libralesso, who remained at the helm of the company for four years.
Mistron is a veteran of Luxottica, the Italian eyewear company. During his 25-year career with Luxottica, he held numerous senior management positions, including Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Officer; Senior Vice President of Group Supply Chain and Group Operations Controller.
“I thank the President and the entire Board of Directors for entrusting me with this role, and I am honored to accept this professional challenge,” Mistron said.
The company said his appointment is critical to its business.
In addition to Mistron's appointment, Geox SpA announced that Andrea Maldi is joining the Veneto-based Italian firm as its chief financial officer.
“2023 was an extremely challenging year, especially in the second half of the year, marked by strong uncertainty due to the difficult macroeconomic situation, which directly impacted our market,” said Geox President Mario Moretti Polegato. “The year marked a stabilization after strong growth over the past two years.”
He outlined the company's ongoing restructuring process and cost-containment measures that resulted in its 2023 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rising to €89 million, or 12,4% of revenue, up from 79,4 million euros, or 10,8% of the revenue received a year earlier.
For the 12 months ended 31 December 2023, Geox SpA's earnings were impacted by a decline in direct retail sales, which the company attributed to a planned restructuring of its store network. Excluding currency fluctuations, sales increased by 0,3%.
In Europe and North America, the group's sales decreased by 7,1% and 10,1% respectively, while in Italy they increased by 3,1%. The wholesale channel, which accounted for 51,7% of sales last year, only partially offset the negative performance, posting 0,6% year-over-year growth.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, group sales decreased by 17,3% at current exchange rates to €138 million.
Geox SpA shares closed at €0,72 on Friday, down 2%.
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