Gustavo Arnal has been appointed as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Avon, effective during Spring 2019.
Arnal will report directly to Jan Zijderveld, Avon’s chief executive officer, as a member of the Executive Committee. Jamie Wilson, Avon’s current chief financial officer, has chosen to step down from his full time executive role and will be pursuing a range of professional business opportunities in the next stage of his career.
“I would like to thank Jamie Wilson for his leadership and support over the last two years,” said Zijderveld. “Jamie has helped to define the plans for our strategy, while significantly strengthening the balance sheet to support our stated growth plans. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.”
A ‘seasoned’ executive
Arnal is a seasoned global operating executive with over 25 years of experience working in strategy, operations and finance positions for consumer goods and retail businesses. He joins from Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), where he served as senior vice president, CFO of International Divisions and Global Functions.
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Prior to WBA, Arnal worked for over 20 years with Procter & Gamble (P&G), a world leading consumer goods company. His responsibilities at P&G included vice president, CFO India, Middle East and Africa, where he oversaw operations in over 50 countries and led the turnaround to profitability of India’s multi-billion-dollar business.
“I am delighted to attract someone of Gustavo’s calibre to Avon, along with his significant and relevant international experience in many of the key markets in which we operate. We expect to benefit from Gustavo’s operational experience in leading change in large regions and categories, while developing and driving robust financial performance,” said Zijderveld.
“Gustavo joins us at a critical time, as we continue to build Avon into the digital social selling beauty company for the future. A key component of our plan to ‘Open Up Avon’ includes accelerating our revenue and margins by 2021, and we are confident that Gustavo will be an asset to our leadership team as we continue our work to drive financial and operational performance for the benefit of shareholders.”
Arnal said: “Avon is an iconic brand, operating in significant growth markets and categories throughout the world. I was attracted to Avon by the recently announced transformation plans that demonstrate a clear vision and strategy to deliver results in growing beauty categories, emerging markets and the direct selling industry. I look forward to working with Jan and the entire Avon management team to help drive this transformation and deliver enhanced results for shareholders.”
