Coty Inc. reports Fiscal 2019 fourth quarter and full year results, in-line with guidance

Certain statements in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect Coty’s current views with respect to, among other things, Coty’s Turnaround Plan, strategic planning, targets, segment reporting and outlook for future reporting periods (including the extent and timing of revenue, expense, profit trends and EPS and changes in operating cash flows and cash flows from operating activities and investing activities), its future operations and strategy, ongoing and future cost efficiency and restructuring initiatives and programs, strategic transactions (including their expected timing and impact), investments, licenses and portfolio changes, synergies, savings, performance, cost, timing and integration of acquisitions, future cash flows, liquidity and borrowing capacity, timing and size of cash outflows and debt deleveraging, impact and timing of supply chain disruptions and the resolution thereof, timing and extent of any future impairments, and synergies, savings, impact, cost, timing and implementation of its Turnaround Plan, including operational and organizational structure changes, operational execution and simplification initiatives, the move of Coty’s headquarters, and the priorities of senior management.  These forward-looking statements are generally identified by words or phrases, such as “anticipate”, “are going to”, “estimate”, “plan”, “project”, “expect”, “believe”, “intend”, “foresee”, “forecast”, “will”, “may”, “should”, “outlook”, “continue”, “temporary”, “target”, “aim”, “potential”, “goal” and similar words or phrases. These statements are based on certain assumptions and estimates that Coty considers reasonable, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Coty’s control, which could cause actual events or results (including our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and prospects) to differ materially from such statements, including risks and uncertainties relating to:

• Coty’s ability to successfully implement its multi-year Turnaround Plan, including its management headquarters relocation and management realignment, and to develop and achieve its global business strategies, compete effectively in the beauty industry and achieve the benefits contemplated by its strategic initiatives within the expected time frame or at all;
• Coty’s ability to anticipate, gauge and respond to market trends and consumer preferences, which may change rapidly, and the market acceptance of new products, including any relaunched or rebranded products and the anticipated costs and discounting associated with such relaunches and rebrands, and consumer receptiveness to its current and future marketing philosophy and consumer engagement activities (including digital marketing and media);
• use of estimates and assumptions in preparing Coty’s financial statements, including with regard to revenue recognition, stock compensation expense, income taxes (including the expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowance), the assessment of goodwill, other intangible and long-lived assets for impairments, the market value of inventory, pension expense, the fair value of redeemable noncontrolling interests and the fair value of acquired assets and liabilities associated with acquisitions;
• the impact of any future impairments;
• managerial, transformational, operational, regulatory, legal and financial risks, including diversion of management attention to and management of cash flows, expenses and costs associated with the Turnaround Plan and future strategic initiatives;
• future acquisitions and the integration thereof with Coty’s business, operations, systems, financial data and culture and the ability to realize synergies, avoid future supply chain and other business disruptions, reduce costs (including through its cash efficiency initiatives) and realize other potential efficiencies and benefits (including through Coty’s restructuring initiatives) at the levels and at the costs and within the time frames contemplated or at all;
• increased competition, consolidation among retailers, shifts in consumers’ preferred distribution and marketing channels (including to digital and luxury channels), distribution and shelf-space resets or reductions, compression of go-to-market cycles, changes in product and marketing requirements by retailers, reductions in retailer inventory levels and order lead-times or changes in purchasing patterns, and other changes in the retail, e-commerce and wholesale environment in which Coty does business and sells its products and its ability to respond to such changes;
• Coty and its brand business partners’ and licensors’ abilities to obtain, maintain and protect the intellectual property used in its and their respective businesses, protect our and their respective reputations (including those of its and their executives or influencers) and public goodwill, and defend claims by third parties for infringement of intellectual property rights;
• any change to Coty’s capital allocation and/or cash management priorities, including any change in its dividend reinvestment program and policy;
• any unanticipated problems, liabilities or integration or other challenges associated with a past or future acquired business which could result in increased risk or new, unanticipated or unknown liabilities, including with respect to environmental, competition and other regulatory, compliance or legal matters;
• Coty’s international operations and joint ventures, including enforceability and effectiveness of its joint venture agreements and reputational, compliance, regulatory, economic and foreign political risks, including difficulties and costs associated with maintaining compliance with a broad variety of complex local and international regulations;
• Coty’s dependence on certain licenses (especially in its Luxury division) and its ability to renew expiring licenses on favorable terms;
• Coty’s dependence on entities performing outsourced functions, including outsourcing of distribution functions, and third-party manufacturers, logistics and supply-chain suppliers and other suppliers, including third party software providers;
• administrative, development and other difficulties in meeting the expected timing of market expansions, product launches and marketing efforts;
• global political and/or economic uncertainties, disruptions or major regulatory or policy changes, and/or the enforcement thereof that affect Coty’s business, financial performance, operations or its products, including the impact of Brexit, the current U.S. administration, changes in the U.S. tax code, and recent changes and future changes in tariffs, retaliatory or trade protection measures, trade policies and other international trade regulations in the U.S., the European Union and Asia and in other regions where  Coty operates;
• currency exchange rate volatility and currency devaluation;
• the number, type, outcomes (by judgment, order or settlement) and costs of any current or future legal, compliance, tax, regulatory or administrative proceedings, investigations and/or litigation, including litigation relating to the tender offer by Cottage Holdco B.V. (the “Cottage Tender Offer”);
• Coty’s ability to manage seasonal factors and other variability and to anticipate future business trends and needs;
• disruptions in operations, sales and in other areas, including due to disruptions in Coty’s supply chain, restructurings and other business alignment activities, the move of Coty’s headquarters to Amsterdam, manufacturing or information technology systems, labor disputes, extreme weather and natural disasters, and the impact of such disruptions on Coty’s ability to generate profits, stabilize or grow revenues or cash flows, comply with its contractual obligations and accurately forecast demand and supply needs and/or future results;
• restrictions imposed on Coty through its license agreements, credit facilities and senior unsecured bonds, or other material contracts, Coty’s ability to generate cash flow to repay, refinance or recapitalize debt and otherwise comply with its debt instruments, and changes in the manner in which Coty finances its debt and future capital needs;
• increasing dependency on information technology and Coty’s ability to protect against service interruptions, data corruption, cyber-based attacks or network security breaches, costs and timing of implementation and effectiveness of any upgrades or other changes to information technology systems, and the cost of compliance or its failure to comply with any privacy or data security laws (including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) and the California Consumer Privacy Act) or to protect against theft of customer, employee and corporate sensitive information;
• Coty’s ability to attract and retain key personnel and the impact of senior management transitions and organizational structure changes, including the co-location of key business leaders and functions in Amsterdam;
• the distribution and sale by third parties of counterfeit and/or gray market versions of the Coty’s products; the impact of the Cottage Tender Offer and of Coty’s Turnaround Plan on its relationships with key customers and suppliers and certain material contracts;
• Coty’s relationship with Cottage Holdco B.V., as our majority stockholder, and its affiliates, and any related conflicts of interest or litigation;
• future sales of a significant number of shares by Coty’s majority stockholder or contractually by certain commercial banks on behalf of Coty’s majority stockholder, as may be required to satisfy obligations under such majority stockholder's credit agreement, or the perception that such sales could occur; and
• other factors described elsewhere in this document and in documents that Coty files with the SEC from time to time.

Comparisons of results for current and any prior periods are not intended to express any future trends or indications of future performance unless expressed as such and should only be viewed as historical data.
 

The Company presents operating income, operating income margin, gross profit, gross margin, effective tax rate, net income, net income margin, net revenues and EPS (diluted) on a non-GAAP basis and specifies that these measures are non-GAAP by using the term “adjusted”. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures better enable management and investors to analyze and compare operating performance from period to period. In calculating adjusted operating income, operating income margin, gross profit, gross margin, effective tax rate, net income, net income margin and EPS (diluted), the Company excludes the following items:

• Costs related to acquisition activities: We have excluded acquisition-related costs and acquisition accounting impacts such as those related to transaction costs and costs associated with the revaluation of acquired inventory in connection with business combinations because these costs are unique to each transaction. The nature and amount of such costs vary significantly based on the size and timing of the acquisitions and the maturities of the businesses being acquired. Also, the size, complexity and/or volume of past acquisitions, which often drives the magnitude of such expenses, may not be indicative of the size, complexity and/or volume of any future acquisitions.
• Restructuring and other business realignment costs: We have excluded costs associated with restructuring and business structure realignment programs to allow for comparable financial results to historical operations and forward-looking guidance. In addition, the nature and amount of such charges vary significantly based on the size and timing of the programs. By excluding the referenced expenses from our non-GAAP financial measures, our management is able to further evaluate our ability to utilize existing assets and estimate their long-term value. Furthermore, our management believes that the adjustment of these items supplements the GAAP information with a measure that can be used to assess the sustainability of our operating performance.
• Amortization expense: We have excluded the impact of amortization of finite-lived intangible assets, as such non-cash amounts are inconsistent in amount and frequency and are significantly impacted by the timing and/or size of acquisitions. Our management believes that the adjustment of these items supplements the GAAP information with a measure that can be used to assess the sustainability of our operating performance. Although we exclude amortization of intangible assets from our non-GAAP expenses, our management believes that it is important for investors to understand that such intangible assets contribute to revenue generation. Amortization of intangible assets that relate to past acquisitions will recur in future periods until such intangible assets have been fully amortized. Any future acquisitions may result in the amortization of additional intangible assets.
• Asset impairment charges: We have excluded the impact of asset impairments as such non-cash amounts are inconsistent in amount and frequency and are significantly impacted by the timing and/or size of acquisitions. Our management believes that the adjustment of these items supplements the GAAP information with a measure that can be used to assess the sustainability of our operating performance.
• Loss/(Gain) on sale of brand assets:  We have excluded the impact of Loss/(gain) on sale of brand assets as such amounts are inconsistent in amount and frequency and are significantly impacted by the size of divestitures.  Our management believes that the adjustment of these items supplements the GAAP information with a measure that can be used to assess the sustainability of our operating performance.
• Interest (income) expense: We have excluded foreign currency impacts associated with acquisition-related and debt financing-related forward contracts, as well as debt financing transaction costs as the nature and amount of such charges are not consistent and are significantly impacted by the timing and size of such transactions.
• Other expense (income):  We have excluded the impact of costs incurred for legal and advisory services rendered in connection with the evaluation of the tender offer initiated by certain of our shareholders. Our management believes these costs do not reflect our underlying ongoing business, and the adjustment of such costs helps investors and others compare and analyze performance from period to period.  We have also excluded the impact of pension curtailment (gains) and losses and pension settlements as such events are triggered by our restructuring and other business realignment activities and the amount of such charges vary significantly based on the size and timing of the programs.
• Loss on early extinguishment of debt: We have excluded loss on extinguishment of debt as this represents a non-cash charge, and the amount and frequency of such charges is not consistent and is significantly impacted by the timing and size of debt financing transactions.
• Noncontrolling interest: This adjustment represents the after-tax impact of the non-GAAP adjustments included in Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests based on the relevant non-controlling interest percentage.
• Tax: This adjustment represents the impact of the tax effect of the pretax items excluded from Adjusted net income. The tax impact of the non-GAAP adjustments is based on the tax rates related to the jurisdiction in which the adjusted items are received or incurred.

To the extent that the Company provides guidance, it does so only on a non-GAAP basis and does not provide reconciliations of such forward-looking non-GAAP measures to GAAP due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for such reconciliation, including adjustments that could be made for restructuring, integration and acquisition-related expenses, amortization expenses, adjustments to inventory, and other charges reflected in its reconciliation of historic numbers, the amount of which, based on historical experience, could be significant.