Coty sets 2028 growth target as it navigates the Gucci beauty handover

Coty used its latest earnings call to set out a growth roadmap running to 2028, with interim chief executive Markus Strobel emphasising innovation and brand investment as the company manages the pending loss of the Gucci Beauty licence. According to WWD, Gucci Beauty will transition to L'Oréal in 2027, ending a long-running arrangement that has been a meaningful contributor to Coty's prestige fragrance and beauty business.

The loss of a major licence of this scale forces Coty to prove it can grow without one of its most recognisable names. Licensing has long been core to Coty's model, giving it access to fashion house equity in fragrance and beauty without the capital cost of owning the brands outright, but it also leaves the company exposed whenever a house decides to bring beauty in-house or switch partners, as Gucci's owner Kering appears to be doing by aligning with L'Oréal. Strobel's emphasis on innovation and owned brand investment suggests Coty intends to rebalance its portfolio towards categories and names it controls more directly, reducing future licence-renewal risk.

The interim nature of Strobel's title is itself worth watching: a permanent chief executive appointment could bring further strategic changes once in place. Investors will be looking for specifics on which owned or licensed brands are expected to fill the Gucci-shaped gap in revenue, and whether Coty can defend its prestige positioning without one of the fashion industry's most valuable names attached to its bottles.

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