MILAN (Reuters) -French luxury group Kering plans to continue reducing its debt following the sale of its beauty business, while focusing on revitalising its core fashion brands, Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo said on Tuesday.
Kering agreed on Monday to sell its beauty business to L’Oreal for 4 billion euros.
De Meo, who took charge of Kering in September, said that debt reduction is a priority for management, as is revitalising the brands, particularly Gucci.
“I envision a group where, of course, we develop the fashion segment, which is our core business, but ultimately we also manage to … make it less dependent on the fashion cycle”, de Meo said at MF Fashion Summit in Milan.
This could be achieved by investing in categories that are structurally less cyclical, de Meo said, citing as an example the venture with L’Oreal to explore business opportunities in the field of wellness.
“It’s a segment growing at twice the pace of the luxury market overall, and it seems very consistent — in terms of clientele — with the one we usually target. This (the wellness) is one example, but there will be others,” he said.
(Reporting by Elisa AnzolinEditing by Keith Weir)
