Dive Brief:

• Global beauty company Coty named British American Tobacco veteran Soraya Benchikh as its next CFO effective Sept. 1, a move that is part of the renewed operating structure the business announced this July, according to a Wednesday press release.
• Benchikh will succeed Laurent Mercier, who has served as group CFO for the fragrance, beauty and skincare maker for five years, according to the release.
• In a separate release Wednesday, the company also reported results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, which saw renewed sales growth. However, Executive Chairman and interim CEO Markus Strobel also noted the company is “not content” with its sell-out performance, which tracks the final volume of sales to consumers, compared with its sell-in volume, which tracks sales to retail or wholesalers. Narrowing that gap “remains a clear priority across the organization,” Strobel said.

Dive Insight:

One of the world’s largest fragrance companies with a market cap of about $2.5 billion, Coty’s portfolio includes stakes and licences across brands divided into “prestige” and “consumer” categories, including Adidas, Calvin Klein, Burberry and Gucci. Its U.S. operations are headquartered in New York.

Benchikh’s career at BAT spanned more than two decades in roles including CEO and area director for various global regions, according to her LinkedIn profile. She briefly left the tobacco group to join beverage firm Diageo, where she held roles including as its president of Europe and a member of its executive committee, before returning to take the CFO role at BAT in May 2024. She departed as BAT’s CFO the following December.

As CFO, Benchikh will focus on “strengthening the balance sheet, sharpening capital allocation, and helping drive the next phase of sustained value creation,” she said in a statement Wednesday.

The CFO appointment comes nearly two months after the beauty brand announced a series of organizational changes aimed at “bringing commercial decision-making” closer to the center of the company, according to a July 2 press release.  

As part of the organizational shifts, Caroline Andreotti, Coty’s chief commercial officer for its prestige brand, is scheduled to leave at the end of September after a two-decade career with the company. Meanwhile, Shimei Fan, the company’s chief scientific and sustainability officer, is set to leave at the end of this month.

The company also appointed a new chief people and purpose officer, set to start on Sept. 1, moved responsibility for its Prestige commercial operations under Strobel and integrated its Prestige R&D, sustainability and supply chain processes under the interim leadership of its Chief Supply Chain Officer, Graeme Carter, according to the release.

Under the strategy, dubbed “Coty.Curated,” the business has begun rightsizing its commercial organization, its consumer beauty R&D and global brand marketing functions “to enhance agility and accountability,” Strobel said Wednesday, according to the earnings release. 

Additionally, the business over its past three quarters has moved to simplify its portfolio and reduce its debt balance through moves such as agreeing to sell its Gucci Beauty license back to Kering about a year before its expiration for $400 million, expected by the end of 2028.

For the fourth quarter ended June 30, total sales grew by about 1% despite economic and geopolitical headwinds, such as a 1% decline due to the conflict in the Middle East, Strobel said. Coty reported net revenues of about $1.2 billion for the three-month period, a 1% increase on a reported basis, while its net loss reached $144.3 million, compared to a net loss of $72.1 million for the prior year period.

As the company advances its organizational strategy, 2027 will “be a transition year as we strengthen our core business and continue shaping a simpler, more focused Coty,” Strobel said.