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Campari’s chief executive has resigned with immediate effect after less than six months in the role, sending shares in the Italian spirits group down 6 per cent on Wednesday morning.
The Milan-based company said Matteo Fantacchiotti was stepping down with immediate effect for personal reasons, after taking up the role in April.
Fantacchiotti, who joined Campari in 2020 and previously worked at companies including Carlsberg and Diageo, took over from Bob Kunze-Concewitz, who expanded the group through 27 acquisitions over his 16-year tenure.
On Wednesday, Campari, whose brands include Skyy Vodka, Wild Turkey whiskey as well as flagship red-orange aperitifs Campari and Aperol, said chief financial officer Paolo Marchesini and general counsel Fabio Di Fede had been appointed as interim co-CEOs. Kunze-Concewitz will chair a leadership transition committee. Shares were down by 5.8 per cent in early morning trading.
Fantacchiotti’s unexpected exit comes after Campari’s half-year earnings in July missed expectations, when the drinks group said bad weather had weighed on performance.
Campari’s shares also fell sharply following an investor call on the US spirits industry on September 13, after the company made comments about weak demand in the sector.
Campari was forced to issue a press statement to “clarify” that the comments did not relate to its own specific performance, namely its assertion that “some of the softness that has been seen in the first half of this year is persisting slightly longer than expected into the third quarter”.
Chair Luca Garavoglia, a member of the Italian family that controls the group, said Campari’s “growth ambitions remained strong and the future is solid thanks to the strong group organisation and a unique portfolio”.
The group’s brands also include Grand Marnier liqueur and Bulldog gin, and last year it bought Courvoisier Cognac from US-Japanese spirits group Beam Suntory in a deal valued at $1.32bn, marking Campari’s largest acquisition.
It came as leading cognac producers reported a slump in sales amid slowing consumer demand. At the time, Kunze-Concewitz told the Financial Times the downturn was “temporary” and “we are very bullish on the medium and long-terms prospects of the brand”.
Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said Fantacchiotti had led Campari in the context of a “tough trading environment and the transformational — and not universally applauded — acquisition of Courvoisier”.
However, analysts were “reassured” by the fact Campari’s statement on Wednesday made no mention of the group’s performance or change to guidance.
Additional reporting by Madeleine Speed.