Richemont CEO and CFO to step down

Luxury company Richemont‘s CEO and CFO have decided to step down soon. The company announced these decesions at the publication of its six-months results, where it had to reveal a profit drop.

No new CEO

Maybe even more surprising than CEO Richard Lepeu’s departure is the news that he will not be replaced: the company decided it will no longer appoint a CEO. The board will report to chairman Johann Rupert, which should help the company deal with market changes even faster. 

Lepeu will leave the company in March 2017, while CFO Gary Saage will stay on until July 2017, when his current right hand, Burkhart Grund, will succeed him. 

Profit drop

The board shuffle follows news about Richemont’s six-month performance with a 13 % turnover drop to 5.1 billion euro, while its profit fell 51 % to 540 million euro.

Richemont’s turnover dropped in every market, aside from China, the United Kingdom and Korea. In the United Kingdom, the weaker local currency helped Richemont, but fewer tourists in France (because of the terror attacks) resulted in weaker French turnover.