L Brands Announces Chief Financial Officer Stuart Burgdoerfer to Retire in August 2021
February 04 2021 - 9:00AM
L Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LB) announced today that Stuart Burgdoerfer
has communicated to the Board of Directors his desire to retire as
CFO of L Brands and Interim CEO of the Victoria’s Secret business.
Martin Waters, currently CEO of Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, has
been promoted to CEO of the Victoria’s Secret business and will
assume those responsibilities effective immediately. Waters will
report to Andrew Meslow, CEO of L Brands. Burgdoerfer will remain
in his CFO role through August 2021. The company has initiated a
search for Burgdoerfer’s successor as CFO, which will include both
internal and external candidates.
The Board and management remain committed to
separating the Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works
businesses. At its January meeting, the Board was fully updated by
its financial advisors, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, and the company
is currently targeting August 2021 to complete the separation. All
options, including a spin-off of the Victoria’s Secret business
into a public company or a private sale of the business, are being
evaluated. Burgdoerfer will continue to lead this process in his
role as L Brands CFO.
Due to strong January results, the company is
raising its earnings guidance for the fourth quarter from $2.70 to
$2.80 per share to $2.95 to $3.00 per share. The company expects to
report a fourth quarter comparable sales increase of 10 percent,
consisting of a 22 percent increase at Bath & Body Works and a
3 percent decrease at Victoria’s Secret. The company will report
its fourth quarter earnings results on Feb. 24 and conduct its
earnings call at 9 a.m. Eastern on Feb. 25.
“The Board and I are extremely grateful to
Stuart for his leadership during his 20-year career at L Brands,”
said Sarah Nash, chair of L Brands’ Board of Directors. “In the
last 9 months, he has led the turnaround of the Victoria’s Secret
business in addition to continuing to lead L Brands’ finance
organization as CFO. He will be missed, and we appreciate that he
will remain with the business to see us through the planned
separation process.”
Meslow said, “Stuart has been an exceptional CFO
for the last 14 years and has built an extremely knowledgeable and
talented senior finance team. On behalf of the entire company, I’d
like to thank him for his dedication, extraordinary efforts and
leadership.”
Meslow continued, “Martin Waters is an
experienced retail executive who has led our international business
for the past 13 years and recently stepped into the role of CEO of
Victoria’s Secret Lingerie. He is widely respected both inside and
outside of our enterprise, and we are confident he will continue
the momentum and progress in the Victoria’s Secret business.”
Burgdoerfer said, “I am grateful to have had the
opportunity to work with extraordinary people in every part of the
business. The time is right for me to move on to my next
chapter. Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret are in
very capable hands with a bright future. I am excited to
continue to lead the planned separation of the two businesses over
the next six months.”
About Martin Waters:Waters
joined L Brands in 2008 as head of the international division and
was promoted in November 2020 to CEO of Victoria’s Secret Lingerie.
Under his leadership, the international business has expanded from
the early phases of incubation to more than 700 stores globally.
Prior to his role with L Brands, Waters was managing director for
Boots International, Europe’s leading health and beauty retailer.
He also has significant experience in strategic planning,
merchandising, planning and allocation, brand management, marketing
and supply chain operations.
ABOUT L BRANDS:L Brands, through Victoria’s
Secret, PINK and Bath & Body Works, is an international
company. The company operates 2,669 company-operated specialty
stores in the United States, Canada and Greater China, and its
brands are also sold in more than 700 franchised locations
worldwide. The company’s products are also available online at
www.BathandBodyWorks.com, www.VictoriasSecret.com and
www.PINK.com.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995
We caution that any forward-looking statements
(as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995) contained in this press release or made by our
company or our management involve risks and uncertainties and are
subject to change based on various factors, many of which are
beyond our control. Accordingly, our future performance and
financial results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied in any such forward-looking statements. Words such as
“estimate,” “project,” “plan,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,”
“intend,” “planned,” “potential” and any similar expressions may
identify forward-looking statements. Risks associated with the
following factors, among others, in some cases have affected and in
the future could affect our financial performance and actual
results and could cause actual results to differ materially from
those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements
included in this press release or otherwise made by our company or
our management:
- General economic conditions, consumer confidence, consumer
spending patterns and market disruptions including pandemics or
significant health hazards, severe weather conditions, natural
disasters, terrorist activities, financial crises, political crises
or other major events, or the prospect of these events;
- divestitures or other dispositions, including any divestiture
of Victoria’s Secret and related operations, could negatively
impact our business, and contingent liabilities from businesses
that we have sold could adversely affect our financial
statements;
- the seasonality of our business;
- difficulties arising from turnover in company leadership or
other key positions;
- our ability to attract, develop and retain qualified associates
and manage labor-related costs;
- liabilities arising from divested businesses;
- the dependence on mall traffic and the availability of suitable
store locations on appropriate terms;
- our ability to grow through new store openings and existing
store remodels and expansions;
- our ability to successfully expand internationally and related
risks;
- our independent franchise, license and wholesale partners;
- our direct channel businesses;
- our ability to protect our reputation and our brand
images;
- our ability to attract customers with marketing, advertising
and promotional programs;
- our ability to protect our trade names, trademarks and
patents;
- the highly competitive nature of the retail industry and the
segments in which we operate;
- consumer acceptance of our products and our ability to manage
the life cycle of our brands, keep up with fashion trends, develop
new merchandise and launch new product lines successfully;
- our ability to source, distribute and sell goods and materials
on a global basis, including risks related to:
- political instability, environmental hazards or natural
disasters;
- significant health hazards or pandemics, which could result in
closed factories, reduced workforces, scarcity of raw materials,
and scrutiny or embargoing of goods produced in infected
areas;
- duties, taxes and other charges;
- legal and regulatory matters;
- volatility in currency exchange rates;
- local business practices and political issues;
- potential delays or disruptions in shipping and transportation
and related pricing impacts;
- disruption due to labor disputes; and
- changing expectations regarding product safety due to new
legislation;
- our geographic concentration of vendor and distribution
facilities in central Ohio;
- fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;
- stock price volatility;
- our ability to pay dividends and related effects;
- our ability to maintain our credit rating;
- our ability to service or refinance our debt;
- shareholder activism matters;
- the ability of our vendors to deliver products in a timely
manner, meet quality standards and comply with applicable laws and
regulations;
- fluctuations in product input costs;
- our ability to adequately protect our assets from loss and
theft;
- fluctuations in energy costs;
- increases in the costs of mailing, paper and printing;
- claims arising from our self-insurance;
- our ability to implement and maintain information technology
systems and to protect associated data;
- our ability to maintain the security of customer, associate,
third-party or company information;
- our ability to comply with laws and regulations or other
obligations related to data privacy and security;
- our ability to comply with regulatory requirements;
- legal and compliance matters; and
- tax, trade and other regulatory matters.
We are not under any obligation and do not
intend to make publicly available any update or other revisions to
any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press
release to reflect circumstances existing after the date of this
press release or to reflect the occurrence of future events even if
experience or future events make it clear that any expected results
expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements will not
be realized.
For further information, please contact:
L Brands: |
|
Investor Relations |
Media Relations |
Amie Preston |
Brooke Wilson |
(614)
415-6704 |
(614)
415-6042 |
apreston@lb.com |
communications@lb.com |
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