FILE – In this Tuesday, March 15, 2016, file photo, specialist Ronnie Howard works under the Avon logo on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Avon’s CEO, Sheri McCoy, will be stepping down in March 2018, as the struggling beauty company continues to work on turning around its business. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
LONDON — Avon’s CEO will leave the company in March as the struggling beauty products maker continues a turnaround campaign.
Sheri McCoy has led the company for five years and sits on the board, but there has been some external pressure from activist investors for a change in leadership.
Avon said Thursday that it has hired an executive search firm to help find McCoy’s successor.
“The platform is in place for a new CEO to continue accelerating the pace of change and take Avon to sustainable profitable growth,” McCoy said in a company release.
Barrington Capital Group had been pushing for significant action at Avon since 2015, when it sent a letter saying that, “significant, immediate changes in leadership and strategic direction are needed.”
In March 2016 Avon announced that it was cutting 2,500 jobs and moving its headquarters from New York to the U.K.
Avon Products Inc. launched a three-year transformation plan last year and so far it has sold its North American business to private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management and realized $180 million in cost savings. But those efforts have been arduous.
The company on Thursday said it had swung to a loss of $45.5 million in the second quarter. It had an adjusted loss of 3 cents per share on revenue of $1.4 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research predicted earnings of 6 cents per share on revenue of $1.44 billion.
Shares fell slightly in premarket trading.