Avon CEO Sheri McCoy’s exit caps a turbulent five years for the company, which shrunk to half its size after selling most of its US business and has seen stock lose about 85 percent of its value.
US cosmetics maker Avon Products Inc., which has been under pressure from activist investor Barington Capital, said Sheri McCoy will step down as chief executive next year, sending the company’s shares sliding 9 percent in premarket trading.
The company reported a second-quarter loss of $45.5 million on Thursday, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.
Avon has also been struggling to reverse a steady decline in sales as the 130-year old pioneer of direct-selling loses favour to bigger players such as Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and other niche brands, triggering discontent among its investors.
Annual sales that crossed $10 billion in 2012 are now at half its levels and are expected to drop further.
