Charles Sternberg, Assistant Editor05.10.21
Coty Inc. has announced continued improvement in its financial results and early evidence of recovery across its operations for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, ended March 31, 2021.
For the third quarter of 2021, the company reported net revenues of $1,027.8 million, a decrease of 3.3% year-over-year in a persisting Covid context in Europe and select regions.
At the same time results were buoyed by +20% LFL growth in Asia Pacific, 30% growth in e-commerce, and a relatively stable performance in the Americas, including strong growth in U.S. prestige sales. Brands like Gucci, Burberry and Marc Jacobs were standouts, with double digit growth in the quarter, and Coty continued to build upon its newer prestige engines of growth in cosmetics and skincare.
Overall, in 3Q21 Prestige net revenues increased 6.5% to $600.6 million, while Mass net revenues decreased 14.3% to $427.4 million.
The company also recently revealed its long-term strategy—and plans to 'correct CoverGirl's packaging mistakes.'
And—Coty is Relaunching Kylie Cosmetics
Comments from CEO
"Our Q3 marked another strong milestone in our journey to rejuvenate Coty's position as a global beauty powerhouse. In less than a year, the leadership team and the broader organization have successfully mapped out our strategy, activated our brand and category plans, while generating operational improvements, and strengthening our financial position,” commented Sue Y. Nabi, Coty’s CEO.
“From a results standpoint, in Q3 we saw a significant improvement in our sales trends even as we continued our efforts to strengthen the health of our business and brands by cutting sales in low quality channels,” Nabi continued. “Importantly, the prestige sales returned to growth as the impact of the pandemic abated in many markets. We have seen strong momentum in several of our key markets, with China sales growing double-to-triple digits versus FY20 and FY19, and U.S. prestige sales up high single digits in the quarter and nearly flat in the fiscal year-to-date. While Europe sales remain under pressure, we are confident that the imminent lifting of COVID restrictions will drive improvement in this key region.”
Outlook
As announced during the Strategic Update on April 23, 2021, Coty expects to end the year with net revenues of $4.5 billion to $4.6 billion. With strengthened profitability, the company expects to increase commercial investments in Q4 to support its strategic priorities and the improvement of sell-out trends, as the broader beauty market begins to recover.