Coty appoints former Procter & Gamble executive Markus Strobel as interim chief executive

US cosmetics group Coty announced on Monday that it has appointed Markus Strobel as interim chief executive officer, effective January 1.

Markus Strobel, who spent 33 years of his career at Procter & Gamble, will take the reins at Coty “at a pivotal moment for the company,” according to a press release by Coty, “as a strategic review of the consumer beauty business is underway.”

Markus Strobel succeeds both Peter Harf, who will retire from Coty’s Board of Directors after more than thirty years of service, and Sue Nabi, who will step down as CEO after a five-year term, the release said.

“Harf’s leadership has helped shape Coty into a global beauty leader, while Nabi has overseen the launch of several major hit fragrances, including Burberry Goddess, and significantly reduced Coty’s net financial leverage,” the release said. “Both leave Coty on a solid footing for future profitable growth,” it added.

On the Paris stock exchange, Coty’s shares were down 5.54% at €2.65, while the wider market was 0.21% lower at around 09:40. Since the start of the year, the stock has fallen by more than 50%.

“I’m delighted to be joining Coty at this key moment. Building on Coty’s solid foundations, I see considerable potential to accelerate growth,” said Markus Strobel.

In September, Coty announced the launch of a strategic review of its consumer cosmetics division, with the aim of refocusing on perfumery by bringing together the “prestige” and “consumer” fragrance divisions.

But Coty is on the verge of losing the Gucci licence, as luxury group Kering, owner of the Italian brand, has sold its beauty division to the world’s leading cosmetics company, French group L’Oréal.

The group fell into the red in the 2024/25 financial year (which ended in late June) with a net loss of $381 million, compared with a net profit of $76 million a year earlier. Sales fell by 4% to $5.9 billion.

In the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, results were down, with net profit falling 19% to $64.6 million and sales down 6% to $1.58 billion.