Gustavo Arnal, named as
Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
LONDON, Dec. 13, 2018
/PRNewswire/ -- Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) ("the Company"), a
globally recognized leader in direct selling of beauty and related
products, today announced that Gustavo
Arnal has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer, effective during Spring 2019.
Gustavo will report directly to Jan
Zijderveld, Avon's Chief
Executive Officer as a member of the Executive Committee.
Jamie Wilson, Avon's current Chief Financial Officer, has
chosen to step down from his full time executive role and will be
pursuing a range of professional business opportunities in the next
stage of his career.
Gustavo Arnal is a seasoned
global operating executive with over 25 years of experience working
in strategy, operations and finance positions for consumer goods
and retail businesses. Gustavo joins from Walgreens Boots
Alliance (WBA), where he has served as Senior Vice President, CFO
of International Divisions and Global Functions.
Prior to WBA, Mr. Arnal worked for over 20 years with Procter
& Gamble (P&G), a world leading consumer goods company. His
responsibilities at P&G included Vice President, CFO India,
Middle East and Africa, where he oversaw operations in over 50
countries and led the turnaround to profitability of India's multi-billion-dollar business. He was
Vice President, CFO of Global Fabric & Home Care, and drove the
global supply chain transformation and simplification of laundry
detergents, P&G's largest category. Mr. Arnal was CFO of Global
Personal Beauty Care, at the time overseeing iconic brands like
SK-II, Olay, Secret and Max Factor.
He was the Finance Director of P&G's worldwide Financial
Planning & Analysis department, during the crucial period of
the merger with Gillette. Earlier, Mr. Arnal was CFO for all of
P&G's categories in Brazil and
was Finance Manager in Mexico for
Health and Beauty Care products.
"I am delighted to attract someone of Gustavo's calibre to
Avon, along with his significant
and relevant international experience in many of the key markets in
which we operate. We expect to benefit from Gustavo's
operational experience in leading change in large regions and
categories, while developing and driving robust financial
performance," said Jan Zijderveld,
Chief Executive Officer of Avon.
"Gustavo joins us at a critical time, as we continue to build
Avon into the digital social
selling beauty company for the future. A key component of our
plan to 'Open Up Avon' includes accelerating our revenue and
margins by 2021, and we are confident that Gustavo will be an asset
to our leadership team as we continue our work to drive financial
and operational performance for the benefit of shareholders."
Gustavo Arnal said, "Avon is an iconic brand, operating in
significant growth markets and categories throughout the
world. I was attracted to Avon by the recently announced transformation
plans that demonstrate a clear vision and strategy to deliver
results in growing beauty categories, emerging markets and the
direct selling industry. I look forward to working with Jan
and the entire Avon management
team to help drive this transformation and deliver enhanced results
for shareholders."
Jan Zijderveld continued, "I
would like to thank Jamie Wilson for
his leadership and support over the last two years. Jamie has
helped to define the plans for our strategy, while significantly
strengthening the balance sheet to support our stated growth
plans. We wish him the best of luck in his future
endeavors."
About Avon Products, Inc.
Avon is the Company that for 130 years has
proudly stood for beauty, innovation, optimism and, above all, for
women. Avon products include
well-recognized and beloved brands such as ANEW, Avon Color, Avon
Care, Skin-So-Soft, and Advance Techniques sold through
approximately 6 million active independent Avon Sales
Representatives. Learn more about Avon and its products at
www.avoncompany.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that
are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements
relating to changes to the Company's management team and statements
relating to the Company's transformation, financial and operational
performance including the acceleration of revenue and margins, and
the Company's overall strategy. Because forward-looking
statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties, actual
future results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the possibility of
business disruption, competitive uncertainties, and general
economic and business conditions in Avon's markets as well as the other risks
detailed in Avon's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Avon undertakes no obligation to update any
statements in this press release for changes that happen after the
date of this release.