French luxury-goods group LVMH has asked CFO Jean-Jacques Guiony to head up wines and spirits division Moët Hennessy.
Guiony will replace long-time executive Philippe Schaus on 1 February.
Deputy finance chief Cecile Cabanis will become LVMH’s new CFO on the same date.
In October, LVMH dismissed a report by French media outlet La Lettre that had said the Hennessy Cognac owner was considering a management reshuffle at its wine and spirits unit, which has been struggling with pressure on sales in the US and China.
In a statement today (14 November), LVMH said Schaus, a 21-year veteran of the company, will support the new team in the first half of 2025 but has decided to focus on non-executive roles.
Cabanis is a former senior executive at French dairy major Danone, which she joined in 2004. She held a number of positions at the Evian brand owner, including corporate finance director, M&A director and then finance director of the fresh-products division, before being appointed CFO of the dairy group.
In 2021, Cabanis left Danone and joined Tikehau Capital as deputy CEO.
The moves follow the promotion of Stephane Bianchi to group managing director in March. Bianchi, who joined the luxury-goods giant in 2018, succeeded Toni Belloni, who became president of the company’s business in Italy.
In the first nine months of 2024, LVMH’s Wine and Spirits revenues dropped 11% to €4.69bn ($5.08bn), down 8% on an organic basis.
Revenue from its wider Cognac and Spirits business unit declined 12% to €2.1bn, equivalent to an 11% slump organically.
Speaking to analysts, LVMH’s director of financial communications, Rodolphe Ozun, said the China Cognac business “continues to remain challenging” as a result of “ongoing prudence amongst retailers, given the weaker demand related to the current macro environment”.
In the US on the other hand, Hennessy “saw another quarter of growth” in the third quarter, Ozun said, “driven by VS restocking and the gradual realignment of sell-in with sell-out after excessive destocking from retailers at the beginning of this year”.
LVMH’s Champagne sales dropped on 2023 due to “ongoing normalisation of post-Covid demand,” but were nonetheless “significantly higher than in 2019”.
