PARIS (Reuters) -French luxury goods group LVMH said it was “surprised by inaccurate rumors” about its Moet Hennessy division relayed on Friday by French investigative media La Lettre, which reported its longtime wine and spirits division head was being replaced by an executive in the business.
La Lettre said the group would name Laurent Boillot, the president of cognac label Hennessy to replace Philippe Schaus.
In its statement to Reuters on Friday, LVMH did not comment further.
Bloomberg on Friday also reported that Schaus was departing, but did not name a potential successor.
Schaus, 61, has held a seat on LVMH’s executive committee since 2012 and was CEO of the Moet Hennessy division for the past seven years.
Moet Hennessy has been hit by a slump in demand in the United States and China. Sales have dropped 8% over the past nine months, making it the group’s worst-performing business.
LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault has been reshuffling the upper echelons of the group in recent months – though departures are rare – as a new generation gradually replaces retiring executives and his five children move up the ranks.
The group’s selective retailing division head Chris de Lapuente, who oversaw Sephora as well as the group’s duty free retailer DFS, is leaving at the end of the month.
Boillot, who has been president and CEO of Hennessy for the past five years, previously ran the group’s Guerlain label.
(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer and Dominique Patton; Editing by Susan Fenton and Elaine Hardcastle)
