Luxury goods holding company, Richemont, named Nicolas Bos, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, to the reestablished role of CEO, effective June 1. In addition, Bram Schot was appointed as non-executive deputy chairman of the Richemont board, effective September 11.
The chief executive position has been vacant for nearly a decade. The appointment comes at a time of slowing sales for Richemont and during an overall slowdown in luxury sales.
Nicolas Bos will continue to report to Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont, and will join the senior executive committee on June 1, Richemont said Friday. He will be proposed for election to the board at the annual general meeting on September 11.
In his new role, Bos will directly and indirectly oversee all the brands in Richemont’s portfolio functions and regions, notably the jewellery brands, finance and human resources, Richemont said in a statement.
Richemont owns about 29 watch, luxury brands, primarily in the watches and jewellery categories. They include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Montblanc.
Bos, a graduate of the ESSEC Business School, joined Richemont in 1992, initially working with the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris.
In 2000, he joined Van Cleef & Arpels where he held different positions until he became global president and CEO of the French luxury jewellery brand in 2013. Since September 2019, he has also been overseeing the Italian luxury jewellery brand, Buccellati.
Jérôme Lambert remains on the Richemont board and will continue in the group as Chief Operating Officer, reporting to Bos, effective June 1.
Richemont eliminated the CEO position in 2016. Lambert held the title of head of Operations with Richemont, beginning in 2017.
Josua (Dillie) Malherbe will be succeeded by Schot as non-executive deputy chairman of the Richemont board, having decided to step down after 11 years of service in the role.
Malherbe will remain on the board as a non-executive director and as a member of the audit and strategic and security committees.
The announcement came Friday, the same day that Richemont reported its fourth quarter and year-end financial reports.
Fourth quarter sales fell by 1% at actual exchange rates and were up 2% at constant exchange rates.
Despite the sluggish results for the fourth quarter, sales for the fiscal year ended March 31 was a record €20.62 billion ($22.4 billion), up 3% at actual exchange rates and 8% at constant exchange rates, driven by jewellery and retail sales, which represented 69% of total group sales.
Full-year operating profit was €4.79 billion ($5.2 billion), down from €5.03 billion ($5.46 billion) in 2023, while the operating margin fell to 23.3% from 25.2%.
“I am truly delighted that Nicolas has accepted to assume the re-established role of chief executive officer of Richemont,” Rupert said in a statement. “His vision and ability to uphold Van Cleef & Arpels’ tradition of excellence and creativity have been critical to the Maison’s remarkable growth. Building on Richemont’s expanded scale and stronger focus on retail and jewellery, Nicolas will steer the group through the next phase of its evolution. The re-established CEO role will help streamline decision-making and optimize operational management.”
Rupert added, “I am equally happy that Jérôme will continue as COO and would like to thank him for playing a significant part in strengthening Richemont’s operational backbone and in helping to successfully navigate the Group through turbulent times. Going forward, I know he will provide solid operational support to Nicolas in his new role.”
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
