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Boohoo Names Finley as CEO against Frasers Demand to Pick Mike Ashley

FILE PHOTO: A woman poses with a smartphone showing the Boohoo app in front of the Boohoo logo on display in this illustration taken September 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman poses with a smartphone showing the Boohoo app in front of the Boohoo logo on display in this illustration taken September 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Boohoo Names Finley as CEO against Frasers Demand to Pick Mike Ashley

FILE PHOTO: A woman poses with a smartphone showing the Boohoo app in front of the Boohoo logo on display in this illustration taken September 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman poses with a smartphone showing the Boohoo app in front of the Boohoo logo on display in this illustration taken September 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

British online fashion retailer Boohoo on Friday appointed Dan Finley as its new CEO, effective immediately, in a blow to top investor Frasers which had attempted to appoint its controlling shareholder Mike Ashley to the role.
Boohoo's shares rose 3% on the news of the appointment of Finley, who is currently head of Boohoo's digital department store unit Debenhams and who will replace John Lyttle.
Frasers last week requisitioned a general meeting at Boohoo to appoint British entrepreneur Ashley as CEO. A week prior, Boohoo had said Lyttle would step down and also announced a strategic review that could see it broken up.
Controlled by Ashley, the British sportswear and apparel retailer is Boohoo's biggest shareholder with a stake of about 27%.
Boohoo's board was unanimous in its decision to appoint Finley as CEO, the company's Deputy Chairman Alistair McGeorge said in a statement.
Frasers did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment.
Under Finley's leadership, Debenhams has a gross merchandise value (GMV) annual run rate of about 800 million pounds ($1.03 billion) due to a capital-light and cash generative model, Boohoo said.
Analysts at Jefferies said the GMV was well ahead of the brokerage's estimate earlier this year of about 400 million pounds.
Boohoo, in response to Frasers last week, had said it was willing to discuss board representation but that there needed to be "appropriate governance" to protect its commercial position.
Boohoo had noted that Frasers also owns a 23.6% stake in ASOS, which operates in similar markets to both Boohoo and Frasers.
Frasers also owns stakes in the likes of British luxury brand Mulberry, where a takeover attempt by Frasers failed last month, and British electronics retailer AO World .
It also invested 150 million pounds in Debenhams, which went out of business in 2021 and was bought by Boohoo out of administration.

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Fashion

Hermes Q3 Sales Up 11.3%, Continues to Outshine Rivals

A logo of Hermes is seen on a store in Nantes, France, October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
A logo of Hermes is seen on a store in Nantes, France, October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
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Hermes Q3 Sales Up 11.3%, Continues to Outshine Rivals

A logo of Hermes is seen on a store in Nantes, France, October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
A logo of Hermes is seen on a store in Nantes, France, October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Birkin bag maker Hermes reported on Thursday an 11.3% rise in third-quarter sales, continuing to outshine rivals hit hard by a downturn in China as its luxury handbags lure wealthy shoppers.

The French luxury company generated 3.7 billion euros ($3.99 billion) in revenue for the three months ending in September, an 11.3% rise at constant exchange rates, Reuters reported.

The figure was in line with an analyst consensus estimate of 11% growth cited by Jefferies.
"In a more uncertain economic and geopolitical context, I want to thank all employees for the robust third-quarter performance, and our customers for their loyalty," said Axel Dumas, Executive Chairman of Hermes.
"Thanks to the singularity of its model, Hermes is continuing its recruitments and long-term investments," he said in a statement.
A sector-wide slowdown has affected labels across the high-end spectrum.
Luxury bellwether LVMH missed expectations last week and flagged a drop in Chinese consumer confidence to COVID-era lows, with a deterioration in demand for fashion over the quarter.
Late on Wednesday, Kering warned its 2024 operating income would almost halve to its lowest in years as weak demand in China deepened the struggles of the French luxury goods group's main label Gucci.
Hermes' famously classic designs and tight management of production and stock have helped reinforce the label's aura of exclusivity and made the company one of the most consistent performers in the industry.
Handbags like the coveted $10,000 plus Birkin model are affordable only for the wealthiest shoppers -- who are typically the more immune to choppy economic conditions.
But showing limits of its resilience, executives earlier this year said that Hermes was seeing slightly less traffic from aspirational clients, impacting higher volume products like fashion accessories such as silk scarves.
Hermes shares have risen nearly 9% since the start of the year, outpacing rivals, with LVMH down nearly 15%, Moncler down 3.3% and Kering, which is working to turn around Gucci, down 40%.