MILAN (Reuters) – Ferragamo shares slide more than 5% on Tuesday after the Italian luxury group announced that its chief executive Marco Gobbetti would leave next month after little over three years in charge.
Gobbetti, the former chief of British brand Burberry, had been attempting to turn around the Florentine brand but progress had been slower than hoped.
“While waiting for more clarity on the new phase of the relaunch, we see potential negative implications in the short term, also considering that the transition phase could also involve the creative team and part of the top management,” analysts at Italian broker Equita said in their daily note.
They added that Gobbetti’s exit could be the consequence of results that fell below expectations and the delay in the brand’s revival compared to initial objectives.
Gobbetti joined the group at the beginning of 2022 and promised a quick turnaround. However, last year he warned that hitting turnaround goals could take longer than anticipated.
Briton Maximilian Davis was hired as creative director in 2022 shortly after Gobbetti took charge of the company.
Ferragamo, controlled by the family of late founder Salvatore Ferragamo, said on Monday it had started the search for a new CEO, who will be in charge of “continuing the activities of brand renewal and heritage enhancement”.
Shares in Ferragamo were down 4.64% at 0935 GMT.
In the last year, the shares lost around 38% of their value and hit a record low at the beginning of December.
“We think his departure could potentially be seen as a small positive by the market, as the brand has been underperforming the sector over the past few years,” analysts at Barclays said.
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Keith Weir)
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