The Belgian Stefan De Loecker steps down as CEO of Nivea‘s parent company Beiersdorf. The North American CEO Vincent Warnery will replace him. Meanwhile, the cosmetics giant announced solid quarterly results.
Foundation is laid
As of May 1, Beiersdorf, the holding company above Nivea, Eucerin and Hansaplast, will have a new CEO. Vincent Warnery replaces outgoing CEO Stefan De Loecker, who will be leaving the company “by mutual agreement”. He is also leaving the board of directors.
Warnery has been a member of the board of directors since 2017 and was previously responsible for the Pharmacy & Selective division covering the Eucerin, Hansaplast and La Prairie brands. The Frenchman also headed the North American operations. He started his career at Procter & Gamble and L’Oréal, to name a few.
The new CEO plans to build on the “C.A.R.E.+” strategy of his predecessor De Loecker. The focus will be on digitalisation, sustainability and internationalisation. “My goal was to strengthen Beiersdorf in an era of digital disruption and environmental challenges to keep the company on track for success in the long term. I am convinced that we have laid this foundation,” said the outgoing chief executive.
Solid start
In the first quarter, Beiersdorf group sales already increased by 6.3 per cent to 1.9 billion euros. A solid start, according to the company. The growth was mainly due to the professional division.
In the consumer products division, turnover rose by 2.7 per cent, mainly thanks to the dermatological brands (up 12 per cent) and La Prairie (up 17 per cent). Flagship brand Niveau saw sales increase by a mere 0.5 per cent, partly due to the Covid pandemic in which people are buying fewer beauty products.
