French Luxury Goods Company Kering Names Stefano Cantino as Gucci CEO

The logo of fashion house Gucci is seen outside a store in Cannes, France, May 16, 2024. (Reuters)
The logo of fashion house Gucci is seen outside a store in Cannes, France, May 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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French Luxury Goods Company Kering Names Stefano Cantino as Gucci CEO

The logo of fashion house Gucci is seen outside a store in Cannes, France, May 16, 2024. (Reuters)
The logo of fashion house Gucci is seen outside a store in Cannes, France, May 16, 2024. (Reuters)

French luxury goods company Kering named Stefano Cantino as CEO of Gucci, the Italian fashion house it has been seeking to revive, adding he would succeed Jean-Francois Palus in January.

"I am confident that, building on what has been set up over the past 15 months, Stefano and the Gucci team will succeed in the mission to take Gucci back to the leadership the brand deserves," Kering Deputy CEO Francesca Bellettini said.

Cantino, who joined Gucci in May 2024 as deputy CEO, will have a seat on Kering’s Executive Committee.

Kering has been revamping the century-old Italian fashion house that accounts for half of group sales and two thirds of profit.

But the efforts have been complicated by a downturn in the global luxury market, while China's rebound - traditionally Gucci's most coveted market - was held back by a property crisis and high youth unemployment just when Western markets retreated after a post-pandemic spending splurge.



H&M Abandons 2024 Earnings Margin Target, Q3 Profit Lags

People walk past a closed H&M clothing store in Omsk, Russia, March 3, 2022. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
People walk past a closed H&M clothing store in Omsk, Russia, March 3, 2022. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
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H&M Abandons 2024 Earnings Margin Target, Q3 Profit Lags

People walk past a closed H&M clothing store in Omsk, Russia, March 3, 2022. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
People walk past a closed H&M clothing store in Omsk, Russia, March 3, 2022. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko

H&M, the world's second-largest listed fashion retailer, said on Thursday it no longer expected to reach its full-year earnings margin goal, while reporting a lower-than-expected operating profit for the June-August period.

H&M has struggled to boost its profitability amid high inflation and stiff competition from its bigger Spanish rival Zara, owned by Inditex, and the rapid growth of cut-price online fast-fashion retailer Shein.

"At present we estimate that this year's operating margin will be lower than 10%," Chief Executive Daniel Erver said in a statement.

The accumulated margin stood 7.4% for the first three quarters.

The full-year operating margins for 2022 and 2023 were 3.2% and 6.2% respectively, and H&M had cautioned in June that factors such as materials costs and foreign currency had made the 2024 target more difficult to reach.