Ferragamo CEO Poletto to Step Down After Less Than 2 Years

(Bloomberg) -- Salvatore Ferragamo SpA Chief Executive Officer Eraldo Poletto is leaving after less than two years as the Italian shoe- and tie-maker struggles to latch on to the luxury industry’s rebound.

Poletto will step down on March 8, the company said in a statement late Tuesday in which it did not name a successor. The shares rose as much as 4.6 percent early Wednesday, but they’ve fallen about 13 percent over the past year.

Ferragamo did not disclose a reason for Poletto’s departure but said in a statement that the split was mutually agreed.

The Florence, Italy-based company in December backed away from its own financial targets, saying it needed to spend more on technology and marketing to relaunch the brand. That was the latest in a series of setbacks for Poletto, who joined the company in August 2016 from leather-goods maker Furla SpA.

A likely reason for Poletto’s departure is “tension between the family and the CEO about the poor results of its ambitious strategy,” Loic Morvan, an analyst at Bryan Garnier, said in a note. “This is likely to imply further changes in strategy with less ambitious objectives.”

Ferragamo has named a trio of designers to refresh the brand’s offer in women’s shoes, womenswear and menswear. In October it elevated shoe designer Paul Andrew to oversee all its products for women. Earlier this month, however, it reported revenue below estimates.

The company, in its statement, praised Poletto for “having contributed, during his tenure, to the start of a new chapter in the company’s history, characterized by a great dynamism, an important digital breakthrough and a special attention to the brand and to the product.”

The luxury house is controlled by descendants of Salvatore Ferragamo, who founded his namesake company in Florence in 1928 and went on to make shoes for Audrey Hepburn and handbags for Margaret Thatcher.

To contact the reporters on this story: Eric Pfanner in London at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Robert Williams in Paris at rwilliams323@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III, John Lauerman

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