Ralph Lauren CEO Stefan Larsson to Depart After Less Than Two Years at Helm
03 February 2017 - 1:23AM
Dow Jones News
By Imani Moise
Ralph Lauren Corp. said Thursday that Chief Executive Stefan
Larsson, tapped less than two years ago to replace the company's
founder atop the company, will leave amid "different views" about
the business.
Mr. Larsson took the helm from Ralph Lauren himself in November
2015 amid sagging profit at the American fashion house, but he has
struggled to turn the company around.
Shares of Ralph Lauren fell 9% to $7.87 premarket as the company
also reported another slide in sales. The stock had dropped 10%
over the past three months through Wednesday's close.
The company and Mr. Larsson said that the agreement to leave was
mutual and a search for a replacement will be conducted.
"We have found that we have different views on how to evolve the
creative and consumer-facing parts of the business," said Mr.
Lauren, who still serves as chief creative officer.
Mr. Larsson, set to leave in May, joined the company from Gap
Inc.'s Old Navy, where he was credited with helping revive sales at
the casual apparel brand. Previously, he spent 15 years at
fast-fashion retailer H&M.
In all for the fiscal third quarter, Ralph Lauren reported a
profit of $82 million, or 98 cents a share, down from $131 million,
or $1.54, a year earlier. Excluding items such as restructuring
charges, earnings fell to $1.86 from $2.27. Revenue dropped 12% to
$1.71.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of
$1.64 on $1.71 billion in revenue.
Write to Imani Moise at imani.moise@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 02, 2017 09:08 ET (14:08 GMT)
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