Falabella SA announced the resignation of its chief executive officer after a slowdown in consumer spending eroded profits at the Chilean retail group.
(Bloomberg) — Falabella SA announced the resignation of its chief executive officer after a slowdown in consumer spending eroded profits at the Chilean retail group.
Gaston Bottazzini will remain in his post until Jan. 1, according to a filing sent Tuesday to Chile’s securities regulator. Bottazzini was appointed CEO in 2018 and his replacement hasn’t been announced.
While in the top job, Bottazzini oversaw Falabella’s push to become a bigger online operator that could compete with giants such as MercadoLibre Inc. The company acquired online operator Linio in 2018 and announced a $800 million capital increase to fund its e-commerce expansion as well as a joint venture with Ikea of Sweden AB.
The expansion into online still hasn’t paid off. Chile’s social unrest in 2019, the pandemic and the economic slowdown after that have eroded revenue and profits. Falabella’s market capitalization peaked at 15.2 trillion pesos or almost $24 billion in 2017, making it the largest publicly-traded company in the benchmark S&P IPSA. Since then, the pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn have pushed it lower to 5.2 trillion pesos.
Falabella posted Aug. 29 a net profit in the second quarter of 2023 after three straight quarterly losses.
(Corrects final paragraph to say Falabella posted a net profit in the second quarter.)
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