Safilo CEO Delgado resigns, to be replaced by Andrea Trocchia

Luisa Delgado, CEO of Italian eyewear group Safilo, has resigned for personal reasons, effective from 28th February.

The news was given by Safilo, which also stated that Andrea Trocchia will be put forward as Delgado's successor. Trocchia will become a director of the Safilo group on 1st April.

In a press release, Safilo said that Delgado's contract was terminated by mutual agreement with the group's board. Until a new CEO is appointed, Safilo's President Eugenio Ranzelli will take charge of business ad interim.

Delgado's severance package will be worth €1 million, plus vested stock options and other non monetary benefits.

In a separate press release, Safilo stated that Trocchia, currently the President and CEO of Unilever Italy, will join Safilo Group S.p.a. as a director at the beginning of April, and will be included in the list put forward by Multibrands Italy BV, the eyewear group's holding company, to be appointed CEO of Safilo Group S.p.a. at the next AGM on 24th April.

At the end of the 2017 financial year, Safilo's consolidated net sales were €1.047 billion, down €194 million (-15.6%) at constant exchange rates compared to the 2016 financial year. Safilo has experienced difficulties for some time, as it is still affected by the termination of the Gucci eyewear licence.
 
In a press release issued last month, the group stated that "the sales decrease reflects both the transformation of the Gucci licence into a supply contract, for a total of €155 million (-12%), and the deployment of a new IT system for the global management of orders and stocks at the start of the year."
 
Safilo is currently distributed in about 100,000 retail outlets worldwide, through the efforts of 40 direct foreign subsidiaries and a global network of over 50 distribution partners. The group is listed on the Italian stock exchange and in 2016 its net sales were €1.252 billion, down from €1.279 billion in 2015. In two years, the Italian eyewear group therefore lost €232 million worth of revenue.