Coty looking to reinvest in skincare initiatives as business raises FY23 sales outlook

Coty, the owner of Rimmel and Max Factor, has updated its outlook for the third quarter as it looks to reinvest in skincare initiatives and recent launches.

The group now forecasts a 10% increase in like-for-like sales for Q3. As a result, it is expecting FY23 sales growth to be at the upper end of its prior guidance of 6-8%.

Coty also reiterated its FY23 guidance for its adjusted gross margin and adjusted EBITDA, as it intends to "reinvest incremental profit into its critical skincare initiatives and recent launches". In its Q2 results, released last month, the group said it expects an adjusted EBITDA of £791-799 million ($955-965 million) for FY23.

Coty reported a 3% drop in revenue to £1.24 billion ($1.52 billion) for the second quarter ending 31 December 2022. The group said its sales performance was "ahead of expectations, despite significant industry-wide constraints in key fragrance components".

During the third quarter, Coty appointed Lubomira Rochet to its Board of Directors. She previously served as Chief Digital Officer and member of the Executive Committee at L’Oréal until 2021, working to transform the cosmetics company into a “digital-first” business.

The group launched a new campaign to change the current dictionary definitions of 'beauty' to be more inclusive. The #UndefineBeauty campaign recognises that the current English language definitions of the term ‘beauty' are outdated and no longer reflect the values of today’s society.

It also announced a two-year partnership between Max Factor UK and UNICEF to support Skills4Girls. Taking place over the next two years, the UNICEF program will "help give young girls the tools and resources to reach their full potential and become the next generation of successful leaders, entrepreneurs, and change-makers".