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By ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM U.S. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, 21st District, spoke with North Country This Week just prior to President Donald J. Trumps 2020 State of the Union address Tuesday.

The Congresswoman, who represents St. Lawrence County, spoke about several issues the president would later bring up in his address, including paid family leave, Medicaid, healthcare costs, gun rights, the impeachment, climate and womens issues.Elise Stefanik

Both discussed agricultural issues facing the region which Trump might address in the State of the Union.

Read more about Fishers and Stefaniks take on those issues here.

Paid family leave

In anticipation of the Presidents address, Stefanik told North Country This Week she expected Trump to speak about her pro-family, pro-business paid leave plan. The President and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, have both voiced support of Stefaniks initiative.

I anticipate the president is going to highlight my paid leave bill, which is not a tax increase. It actually is voluntary and allows an individual to take an advance of the child tax credit when they have a child or adopt a child," Stefanik said by phone from Washington, D.C. It wouldnt hurt what the state (New York) already offers, It would also, again, be voluntary and not include a tax increase.

The Congresswoman also discussed several other issues which directly impact St. Lawrence County residents.

Medicaid changes

St. Lawrence County has more than 12,000 Medicaid recipients. President Trump announced a new proposal recently to convert the existing Medicaid system into a block grant program, giving states greater control. Opposition to the proposal cites potential drops in enrollment or poor insurance benefits. North Country This Week asked Stefanik if she supported the proposal.

I think we have a lot of issues related to Medicaid in New York State. New York State has woefully mismanaged their Medicaid dollars. As we see the budget shortfall of billions of dollars, theyre having to face very tough challenges in New York State, Stefanik said. New York State pays more per Medicaid recipient than any other state in the nation.

Stefanik said she doesnt trust the state to be a good arbiter of those federal dollars. Stefanik said the state has pushed off its Medicaid expense onto the backs of county governments to help make up the shortfall.

We live in the only state in the country where the state makes the decisions about Medicaid coverage, but the majority of the funds are through the counties. It's a huge part of every county budget, she said.

Stefanik put the blame at the feet of supporters of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, including her opponent in the upcoming 21st district race, Democrat Tedra Cobb. Stefanik said Cobb, as a former St. Lawrence County legislaturor, had voted for tax increases multiple times. Its the reason why the county legislature flipped from Democrat to Republican, one of the reasons why, Stefanik said.

Stefanik said while she isnt prioritizing President Trumps proposal to change Medicaid to a block grant system, she would definitely support reforming Medicaid in New York State to make sure the dollars actually go to the people who need them, rather than how they have been mismanaged by the state.

Rising healthcare costs

We absolutely need to tackle the cost of healthcare, Stefanik said. (And) we just had a number of appeals of healthcare taxes that were originally part of the Affordable Care Act.

The Congresswoman said the medical device tax, health insurance tax and the Cadillac tax were all appealed.

But Stefanik said rising prescription drug costs needs to be addressed.

One way we can do that is to make sure we can get generics faster, said Stefanik. Right now pharmaceutical companies can pay generics to stay out of the market. Im on bipartisan legislation where that would be illegal and they would automatically have to have generics on the market within a decade.

Stefanik also advocates for price transparency for medical procedures between insurance companies, providers and patients.

She said combating the opioid epidemic and supporting community health centers by making sure they are well-funded are also top healthcare access priorities for her in the coming year.

2nd amendment, guns, and sanctuaries

With the recent large turnout at the St. Lawrence County Legislature meeting calling for the county to declare itself a Second Amendment Sanctuary, gun rights and gun control are issues on the minds of many readers.

The newspaper asked the Congresswoman about her position on gun control.

I support the voters of the county. They should make their decision as to what the rules are in St. Lawrence County, Stefanik said. The Congresswoman said she has very solid record and an A rating from the NRA on gun rights issues. I believe the (state) SAFE Act is unconstitutional, and Ive been a very strong voice on gun bans.

The Congresswoman said her stance was in stark contrast to Cobbs, who was caught on a video during her run against Stefanik for the 21st seat in 2018 telling a group of teens that she was privately in favor of an assault weapons ban, but couldnt take the position publicly.

Shes out of touch with the vast majority of the district, Stefanik said.

She said she does not support an assault weapons ban, but did say she did support strengthening the Federal Bureau of Investigations NICS background check system which allows multiple agencies to share background information on individuals. She also supported funding for school resource officers.

I have a record on delivering those results, but I am strong believer in our Constitutional liberties, and Im a proud supporter of our 2nd amendment rights, she said.

Trump support

The Republican Congresswoman garnered flack from some of the Democratic and Liberal enclaves of the county over her support of the President during the House impeachment proceedings, as well as serving as Trumps surrogate in Iowa at the caucuses Monday night. North Country This Week asked Stefanik to explain to those to the left of the aisle how her support of the president helps the region.

Stefanik said that Trump overwhelmingly won St. Lawrence County in the last election and anticipates he will win the county again. She said when she talks to local voters they are concerned with issues that affect their daily lives, like that their taxes are too high, they feel that the government is over-regulating their daily lives, they want respect for the Constitution, they want good paying jobs for their kids and their grandkids, they want to make sure we get debt under control, and they want accountability and transparency in their government.

Stefanik said there is a statistical shift of fewer voters registering as Democrat in the county. People are seeing that the far left wing of the Democrats coming out of New York City is not representative of Upstate New York, she said. So Im going to continue working for everybody, whether they are Republican or Democrat, Independent or unaffiliated. And, I think, if you look at my (2018) election results, thats a testament to be able to deliver that.

Stefanik said in terms of impeachment that she would continue to support the President.

I stood up for the Constitution and the facts, and there was bipartisan opposition, Stefanik said.

She called Cobb the number one impeachment candidate in the country with supporters and financial backers from the left-leaning Hollywood and entertainment industries.

And while (Cobb) is very excited about her support from Hollywood, I dont represent Hollywood, I represent St. Lawrence County and the rest of the district, and Im going to work hard to be their voice in Congress.

Notably, after Stefaniks well-televised involvement in the House impeachment proceedings, Cobb received a campaign donation from Mark Hamill who portrayed Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga.

You know what, Im a big Star Wars fan too, Stefanik said. But Stefanik said she is excited that she has support in her district. She can have the Hollywood Tinsel Town.

Climate, environment, acid rain

Stefanik is not in favor of some of the Trump administrations cutting of environmental regulations and funding, particularly as it pertains to acid rain in the Adirondacks.

No, in fact on the acid rain federal funding, I am the only member who delivered funding for the acid rain monitoring program at Ray Brook, Stefanik said. I did it in the appropriations package, and it was after visiting the acid rain monitoring site that I know the impact acid rain had. It was devastating the Adirondack Park and the broader Upstate New York ecosystem.

I have been an independent voice. When the president proposed drastic cuts in the EPA budget, I didnt support that budget, said Stefanik. I said those cuts would be detrimental to our district.

Stefanik said that she also supports other environmental issues, like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Lake Champlain Basin Program.

Womens issues

North Country This Week asked Stefanik to address the importance of womens issues like abortion and funding for Planned Parenthood in the coming election for the 21st Congressional District, a race which will again feature two female candidates.

As the only woman on this call, I believe that all issues are womens issues, Stefanik said. And what Ive found as I talk to women in this district is that they care about jobs, they care about education, they care about national security, they care about the environment, they care about all of these issues, Stefanik said.

When it comes to . . . healthcare, I believe that women make the majority of decisions when it comes to healthcare decisions for their families and are often the ones balancing the budget, so lowering the cost of healthcare is incredibly important. Lowering the cost of prescription drug costs is incredibly important, said the Congresswoman.

Stefanik said she is pro-life, with exceptions for cases of conception by rape, or if the life of the mother is at risk. I dont think taxpayer dollars should go to fund abortion, said Stefanik. The Congresswoman added that she is absolutely opposed New York States Reproductive Health Act, signed into law by Gov. Cuomo in 2019. The law allows late term abortions, after 24 weeks in certain cases if the fetus is not viable or if the womans doctor determines their life to be at risk from the pregnancy. Opponents of the law argue that, with pregnancies lasting 38-42 weeks, the law could theoretically allow a full term abortion.

It is a tremendous overreach, and there is overwhelming opposition even from people who maybe consider themselves pro-choice. They think it's a bridge too far, Stefanik said.

Media matters and fake news

With a lot of talk about fake news at the national political level, North Country This Week asked Stefanik for her perspective on the roll of local media in supporting democracy, and also the closing of more than 2,000 newspapers in the last decade.

In my district some of the local media outlets are thriving and some are struggling, she said. As I look at the local media outlets that are thriving, the focus is on community issues, they focus on hard hitting news and less on editorializing. They focus on locality.

They really focus on telling the stories of how policies or how discussions impact local people.

Stefanik said she feels that there is responsibility on local media outlets to emphasize fact checking as well. And what I mean by fact checking is not the partisan approach to fact checking you sometimes see on social media, but just putting out the facts and reporting the news. We hope thats what happens, and North Country Now has done that.

See the article here:
On eve of State of the Union, Rep. Stefanik speaks about the issues with North Country This Week - North Country Now

New York Feb 5, 2020 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Coty Inc earnings conference call or presentation Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 1:00:00pm GMT

Coty Inc. - CEO & Director

Coty Inc. - CFO

RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - MD of Tobacco, Household Products and Beverages & Lead Consumer Staples Analyst

Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division - Senior MD, Head of Global Beverages Research & Fundamental Research Analyst

Citigroup Inc, Research Division - MD and Head of Global Consumer Staples Research

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Maria, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Coty's Second Quarter Fiscal 2020 Results Conference Call. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded today, February 5, 2020.

On today's call are Pierre Laubies, Chief Executive Officer; and Pierre-Andr Terisse, Chief Financial Officer.

I would like to remind you that many of the comments today may contain forward-looking statements. Please refer to Coty's earnings release and their reports filed with the SEC where the company lists factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements.

All commentary on like-for-like net revenue reflect the comparison of the business at constant currency in the current and prior year, excluding the impact of acquisitions and divestitures. In addition, except where noted, the discussion of our financial results and our expectations reflect certain adjustments as specified in the non-GAAP financial measures section of our earnings release. You can find the bridge from GAAP to non-GAAP results in the reconciliation tables in the earnings release.

I will now turn the call over to Mr. Laubies.

Pierre Laubies, Coty Inc. - CEO & Director [2]

Thank you, Maria, and welcome, everybody, to Coty's Second Quarter Fiscal '20 Conference Call. I will start by reviewing the progress we have made on our turnaround plan in the last few months. Pierre-Andr will then discuss our financial results, outlook, our newly introduced sustainability target and some of the recent strategic developments.

Exactly 1 year ago, I was sharing with you and our key leaders my first impressions of Coty. My first impression at the time was that we had reserves of performance to unlock in the way we ran our company and that the path to building a bigger business would have to go through building a better one.

Our turnaround plan has been underway now for 2 quarters, and we are beginning to see clear evidence of progress in the key parts of the business. Like we alluded about it 6 months ago, our key priorities over these last 2 quarters have been: Rebalance working media and nonworking media; grow penetration by advertising our brands at scale with the right media mix; improve our gross margins by managing better our mix, price and promotion level; put together an organization more adequate with our size; find the right balance between discipline and creativity in everything we do; deliver consistent financial performance in a quality way.

I am very happy to report that our teams across our business units, factories and corporate centers have been doing just that. We are, of course, far from having solved all the challenges that we face and seize all the opportunities ahead of us, yet we can see that we are on the right track, that our plans are starting to work and that now is the time for us to be consistent and persistent. This allow us to reconfirm our fiscal '20 targets. At the same time, we are beginning our work to reshape our portfolio to both provide financial flexibility and raise our growth potential. We will come back to that.

I will take now the opportunity to concretely illustrate our approach by sharing some details of our turnaround plan activation. We continue to grow our working media spend, which was up 8% in the quarter, as we focus on investing behind our priority brand-country combination. The media spend behind these priority businesses in Consumer Beauty grew over 15% in the first half of the year. We also continued to refine the mix between traditional and digital media, activating digital-first campaigns in our younger-orientated brands while ramping up TV media behind our more mainstream brands.

Our organization is very intentional in driving strong gross margin improvement, activating the levers at the center of our strategy. We have implemented list price increase in a handful of countries with a broader deployment on track for the second half. Each of our divisions have been actively managing the mix of their sales, prioritizing higher-value products and channels. We are continuing to monitor that we have the best possible alignment between sell-in and sell-out, thus avoiding value-restrictive selling tactics.

Finally, we are advancing on our objective to be a leaner and more aligned organization, supported by an enabling culture with the right balance of creativity and discipline. The new organizational structure has been deployed effective January 1, and the teams are now working under a new regionally focused framework. We have stepped up our service level to our customers, whilst at the same time, increasing our forecast accuracy. And we have begun to execute on our fixed cost restructuring program.

As part of our efforts to be the healthier business, we are steadily restoring the pricing architecture of our brand and premiumizing our portfolio, and we are making strong progress within both Consumer Beauty and Luxury.

In Consumer Beauty, the average net revenue per unit in the past 6 months has increased by approximately 2% with even higher growth in Europe. This has been achieved through a combination of implementing net price management in a few countries, although the bulk of the effort will be deployed in the second half; active revenue management as we have prioritized and supported higher-value products; and more disciplined promotional activity while remaining competitive in the marketplace.

In Luxury, while we are starting from a stronger position, we are also capturing premiumization opportunities. The average selling prices increased by approximately 4% with improvement in each of our top 3 markets. The driver for this expansion includes: Reduced promotional activity; improved mix management, including greater emphasis on eau de parfums; and reduced gift set activity; and selective price management.

Last quarter, we shared with you early progress in some of our priority brand-country combinations. With that progress continuing to build across a number of brands and market, I am pleased to offer the global view on our end market performance. As you can see on this slide, the global mass color cosmetic market, as tracked by Nielsen, has decelerated moderately over the past year. In our Q2, the mass color cosmetics market declined by approximately 3% compared to a decline of 2% for the last 12 month. At the same time, our focus on sales and marketing fundamentals has allowed us to improve our global sell-out by approximately 130 basis point, even in a slowing market backdrop.

The improved sell-out plan in our cosmetic brand reflects strong progress in the U.K. with Rimmel and Max Factor, in Germany with Max Factor and in Australia with Sally Hansen and Rimmel. It is worth highlighting that the action plans we have activated in the U.K. behind Rimmel, including substantial increase in working media, support on halo sub-brands, and a couple of strong launches, has allowed Rimmel to grow its penetration, hence, its market share of the U.K. cosmetics market by recruiting light and medium shoppers, exactly in line with our strategic intent.

Our sell-out performance in the U.S. are more mixed, though our underperformance gap relative to the category has been moderating in total and very positive on our core franchises. Some of these drivers of underperformance are due to external factors like competitive promo pressure. We can only live with those. But some are also in our control, and we are taking the necessary steps to correct -- the necessary corrective action, sorry. It is important to highlight that due to the strong momentum we are driving on Amazon, our U.S. cosmetic sell-out is over 100 basis points better than what is captured in the Nielsen data.

Complementing the gradual improvement of our performance in store is the continuing strong growth in our e-commerce sales. In the first half of our fiscal '20, Luxury e-commerce revenues grew by approximately 20% year-on-year. E-commerce now accounts for a low double-digit percentage of our Luxury business, which is relatively consistent with the Luxury fragrance market. This momentum was achieved despite the currently limited presence on Tmall. However, our conversations with our leading licenses about launching on Tmall are progressing well, and we are optimistic about the long-term opportunity for our Luxury business with this leading e-retailer.

In Consumer Beauty, while e-commerce penetration is still relatively low, we continue to make great strides globally. Our first half e-commerce revenue grew by approximately 20% fueled by strength on Amazon. Our cyber weekend sales on Amazon in the U.S. and in the U.K. nearly doubled versus the prior year. In fact, in our core markets, including the U.S., U.K. and Germany, we are gaining market share on Amazon, speaking to the strength time of our color cosmetics brand when combined with disciplined focus on e-commerce fundamentals.

While we continue to strengthen our base business, I'm pleased to announce the expansion of some of our leading brands into the clean beauty segment. It is evident that consumers are increasingly focused on wellness, both their own and of the world around them. This is driving rapid growth for products and brands that serve these dual needs, and we will seize this opportunity.

After an initial move in our Professional Business with the WeDo launch, and as we have chosen to focus on our core categories of fragrances, cosmetics and skin care in the last couple of months, we have launched clean label product line in each of these categories: Philosophy's Nature In A Jar; Sally Hansen's Good. Kind. Pure.; Calvin Klein, CK Everyone; and COVERGIRL's Clean Fresh are each vegan, cruelty-free, based on naturally derived ingredient and free of many contested ingredient. Nature In A Jar and CK Everyone are also packaged in recyclable packaging composed of post-consumer recycled material.

We are very proud of the teams who are driving these efforts and capitalizing on the growing trend while building Coty's reputation as a company that aims to do great by doing good.

With that, let me turn over to Pierre-Andr.

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Pierre-Andr Terisse, Coty Inc. - CFO [3]

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Thank you, Pierre, and good morning, everyone.

About sustainability. Sustainability is about, as Pierre just mentioned, consumer and innovation, but it's also about more than that. For the past few years, the Coty teams have been working in a number of areas to try and catch up with the industry. And while a lot of things remain to be done, the many progresses which we have made so far have made it possible for us to elaborate the first Coty sustainability platform and to make it public today.

So I will not go into the many details present on the chart, but I would just say that we have chosen to call it Beauty that Lasts and that it encompasses initiatives in the area of products, environment protection and people and diversity. And for each of them, we have defined priority initiative and set targets for ourselves which we will monitor transversally.

So for instance, we will, by 2022, source 100% of our Indian mica from responsible sources. Or we will, by 2030, reduce our carbon emissions across our entire value chain by 30%. And there are more on the page.

This platform will further build our credibility as we deliver against these targets. It will also increasingly give us the ability to take initiative in a market segment which will be one of the growth driver of beauty in the coming years, and therefore, this is a major step for us.

But now let's zoom again to short term and let me turn to the earnings of the quarters. As said by Pierre, this was a quarter in line with the strategic plan. And this is the fifth time in a row, it is the case since Pierre and I have started this exercise more than a year ago, evidencing, I believe, an improved control over our business.

On revenues more specifically. Q2 was modestly down at 1.4% with noticeable sequential improvement in Consumer Beauty. Beyond the percentage change, the evolution of our top line has been on quality, with strong improvements on that front evidenced by the increase of our gross margin.

So turning to the divisions and to start with Luxury. In Q2, we launched the second pillar under Tiffany fragrances called Tiffany & Love, which you have on the left side of the chart. It performed incredibly well in market. This launch confirmed the appeal of the Tiffany brand for both males and females and has driven market share gains for the overall Tiffany brand across the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Canada and Italy. Our continued support and activation behind Marc Jacobs Daisy has now firmly placed the iconic fragrance pillar into the top 4 fragrances in the U.S., in the U.K. and Canada. And we continue to drive growth across our focus brands, Burberry and Hugo Boss.

Moving to Slide 11. On the performance side, Luxury delivered a solid growth at 1.3% on a high comparison base. I remind you that the same quarter last year was plus 10%. This was helped by the previously mentioned innovations but also by the strong performance of our Gucci makeup.

While the traction of our brands remain strong, we are, as we have been doing in Consumer Beauty, working to improve the quality of the top line. This has already led us to reduce the level of promotions and discounts. We will, in Q3, take advantage of our new go to market, by region common to Consumer and Luxury, to accelerate our work and cut low-value sales, decrease value distribution, better control the gray market, amongst other initiatives. This will temporarily drive our sell-in into low single-digit negative in Q3 specifically.

At the same time, our sell-out will be supported by a strong innovation pipe with CK Everyone coming in Q3, coming today, I believe; as well as Hugo Boss Alive, both fragrance for women; and later in the year, the expansion of the Gucci makeup range; and other innovations, including Burberry, Marc Jacobs or Hugo Boss. So Luxury definitely remains a key growth engine for our company.

Let's now turn to Consumer Beauty, Page 12. The launch of Rimmel Lasting Matte foundation has been off to a great start. This is on the left. In core markets like the U.K., we have been supporting this launch with a strong uplift in media and in store activation, which have driven growth for the entire Rimmel Lasting sub-brand and contributed to Rimmel market share gains in the U.K. over the last 5 month.

Consistent with our focus on high-value business, we have been activating support behind our premium Sally Hansen Miracle Gel line, including major investments and innovative try-on features in select retailers. This has driven mid-single-digit revenue growth for Miracle Gel in the U.S. in Q2, supporting the overall brand.

And finally, on the right, for Max Factor, we are continuing to strengthen the product range with a Miracle Touch Second Skin hybrid foundation, which contains pre and probiotics to support skin renewal and is capitalizing on the growing consumer demand for skincare-like cosmetic products.

Performance-wise, going to Slide 13, Consumer Beauty continued showing progresses as illustrated by Pierre a few minutes ago. While North America continued to show a mixed performance with a solid delivery from Sally Hansen but continued weakness of COVERGIRL, Europe kept strengthening with Rimmel in the U.K. or Max Factor in Germany. And in ALMEA, we kept being selective in our efforts in an attempt to continue improving the quality of our sales.

Our priority combo, brands-country, evidence that their updates are delivering. And while the overall top line of the division remains below where we would like it to be, it is clearly showing sequential progresses at minus 6.8%, more than 1 point versus last quarter, and the best performance for the past 18 month. And this is obviously to be continued.

And turning to Professional Beauty, Slide 14. ghd continues to grow at a very strong pace, driven in part by the launch of the Glide hot-brush. In our leading Wella brand, we have strengthened the range with the launch of ColorMotion+, a hair care regimen that improves color of hair quality. And last, OPI continues in the -- invigorates, sorry, the assortment with its latest Mexico City color collection, which you see on the right.

And so moving to Slide 15, Professional Beauty continued growing in Q2 at 2.2% for the quarter, which means first half at 3.5%. All regions growing, Europe and the U.S. delivering a steady performance while ghd continued delivering strong growth, helped by continued innovation. At the same time, the margins remain high in the 70s -- in the 17s, sorry. These number talk for the health of the business and the quality of the PB teams, the Professional Beauty teams. So at the time, we are working full speed in parallel on the strategic review, I'll come back to it.

So I will now get back to Coty overall, Slide 16. Looking at the profitability for the entire group, we are now well anchored in our virtuous equation. Gross margin was up 130 basis points to 63.4%, reflecting progresses coming from mix, price, but also channel management. At the same time, we kept increasing the support behind our brands with working media up high single digits and key brands being advertised at efficiency. In front of that, we continue to be more selective on promos. Together with a tight control of our fixed cost, this has fueled strong improvement of our operating margin to 13.9%, up 110 basis points, and this flowed down to the EPS, which is up $0.03 to $0.27, half of it driven by a onetime tax benefit.

So we showed good progresses on the earnings side, but even more so on the free cash flow side, Slide '17, with a $364 million free cash flow for the second quarter alone, almost double that of last year. This was driven by tight control in all lines with a specific contribution of receivable, we have been reducing the overdues; and the inventories, thanks to a better supply chain working, a better service level and better S&OP process.

Our debt closed at $7.2 billion, down from $7.4 billion the pre-year quarter -- the previous quarter, sorry. And free cash flow continues, of course, to be very high on our agenda.

So to sum up, Slide 18. This was a quarter very much in line with expectations on all line. It allows us to reaffirm our target for the year, with the delivery expected to be skewed towards Q4: Like-for-like net revenue stable to slightly down year-on-year; adjusted OI growing 5% to 10% like-for-like, with a strong working media reinvestment; and adjusted EPS growing mid-single digit and implements of our free cash flow.

I'll move to Slide 19 now and would like to give you some last comments regarding the change of scope we are currently driving to complement our turnaround plan and build a stronger Coty.

On the strategic review first. We are very happy with the way things are going. First and foremost, as you have seen, the business keeps delivering well. This was the case in Q1 and is very much the case in Q2 in Professional Beauty and across the businesses under review, and we expect this to continue going forward. It's a clear testimony of the quality of the business under review as well as the quality and commitments of the teams running it. We continue running the process and have now moved into a more concrete phase. The information memoranda having been distributed to the interested parties, we continue seeing many strong marks of interest and keep working with an unchanged time frame with a decision to be made by summer 2020.

Moving to Slide 20. Kylie is a second topic. As you have seen, we have closed the deal on the 6th of January and soon appointed Christoph Honnefelder as the CEO. The business has continued delivering well in the last month of 2019, actually ahead of expectation, given strong skin care starts and strong Black Friday overall. We will consolidate Kylie globally as of the acquisition date, early January '20. However, we will report sales and margin, the scope change, this is -- instead of as part of the like-for-like performance for the first 12 month. We will use this time to define the right sequence of initiative to accelerate the brand starting from calendar '21.

Our first interactions and thoughts confirm the potential we were seeing in the brand at the time of signing, and we will take the time to get things right before pushing and delivering our objective, which is, I remind you, to bring an additional 1 point of top line to the group. Finance why -- finance-wise, sorry, we will therefore just make sure in '20 that this transaction is EPS-neutral for the calendar year.

Moving to Slide 21, and this is going to be the last one, a few words of recap on this call before we move to Q&A. As detailed by Pierre, our turnaround is progressing well. Whether on the top line, OpEx, on the cost side, we start seeing the benefits come in.

Part of the benefits, 2 KPIs are showing strong progresses and they are important: Gross margin, on the one hand, which talks of the quality of our top line and business; and the free cash flow, which is a proxy for the comprehensive business delivery. We will continue focusing very much on these KPIs. As a result, we are confident in our ability to reach our target for the year and we're happy to reaffirm them. We are also happy with the progresses made on the shaping of our portfolio and with each of the strategic review and the partnership with Kylie Jenner.

As you may sense, we are dealing with a very intense value-creation and transformation agenda. If we manage to drive it and show so many progresses, this is thanks to the Coty teams who have been and keep showing talent, energy, courage and resilience. And on behalf of Pierre and myself, the 2 of us, I would like to conclude by thanking each and all of the Coty associates for this performance.

And now we'll be happy to take your questions.

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Questions and Answers

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Operator [1]

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(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Olivia Tong of Bank of America.

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Olivia Tong, BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division - Director [2]

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First, just wanted a little bit more on the strategic review because there wasn't a ton more information just like 3 months later. So just wondering if you could give a little bit more detail.

And then is this -- is the planned move of professional hair in Brazil in any way influencing the timing of any projects you might embark on with respect to cost and efficiency improvements, free cash flow improvements that you plan to make?

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Pierre-Andr Terisse, Coty Inc. - CFO [3]

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This is Pierre-Andr. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to give elements about the timing. So maybe just to -- yes, just to repeat. We have started the process back in October. We took the time to prepare the information and to have everything we need to be able to run a smooth process. We are running the smooth process as from now. We took the time to make sure that we find the best possible solution for the business, but also for Coty shareholders.

Obviously, we are very comfortable with the timing we gave as an indication at the beginning, which is by summer '20 in terms of decision. But of course as you can imagine, to run this smooth process, we just have to do it in quiet manner. So we'll come back to you in due course with more elements. But for the moment, I just can tell you that things are proceeding really as we expected and well.

On the impact on restructuring cost, well, there's 2 elements. We don't foresee -- I don't foresee any change to what we have said so far. Because on the one hand, we will have -- I mean Professional Beauty and Brazil, we're carrying part of the cost, and they are going to leave, so these costs are not going to be incurred by us. But on the other one, we think we have to make some further adjustment to the business to reach the same level of profitability. We are working on that. And therefore, all together, I expect the same $600 million figure to remain our envelope of restructuring cost as announced before.

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Olivia Tong, BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division - Director [4]

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Got it. That's helpful. If I could follow up on the price contribution of 4%. That's pretty healthy. Presumably it's primarily in Consumer Beauty, but can you talk about your process of deciding what pricing levers to pull, and how much more you think there is to go there?

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Pierre Laubies, Coty Inc. - CEO & Director [5]

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So I'll take -- this is Pierre speaking. Our -- the contribution actually is pretty balanced between Consumer Beauty and Luxury. Our objective is very clear. I mean, we do have a gross margin gap that we want to close, and price -- and I mean, in that case, I actually talked mostly about net price is one of the key drivers to enable us to do that.

So our objective is very clearly on that case. Yes, we do want to participate into promotion, but at an acceptable level and not necessarily at an over-intense level. Why? Because again, it needs to come back to -- we need to drive fundamentally the penetration of our brand. And for that, we need the margin to invest. And therefore, we need to break this cycle.

And so there are more to come. We will continue to refine all of that. There is more to come in the short term because we are deploying this strategy in more markets than we have been doing so far. So, so far, we have been focusing on 4, 5, 6 key markets. Now going forward, we're expanding the strategy. And again, this requires a degree of granularity which is very fundamental. Taking a blanket approach is not very helpful in this situation because you have local competitive situation, you have mix which varies by market, point of departure is different a bit by market. So you exactly need the granularity of the market analysis.

And so yes, there will be more to come. And I do not desire to disclose what it is, but clearly, we will continue on this agenda. And once we have started this first one, we will make sure we stay on it for the next years and don't fall back.

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Operator [6]

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Our next question comes from the line of Robert Ottenstein of Evercore ISI.

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Robert Edward Ottenstein, Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division - Senior MD, Head of Global Beverages Research & Fundamental Research Analyst [7]

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Great. Two questions on the U.S. business. First, can you talk a little bit about your exposure to Macy's? There was obviously some announcements of some closures there, 125 stores. .

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Edited Transcript of COTY earnings conference call or presentation 5-Feb-20 1:00pm GMT - Yahoo Finance

Near the front of Thomas Mores 16th century book Utopia there is an illustration of a small island, dotted with rolling hills and populated with neat little castles; from the harbour a large ship sets off, presumably to conquer faraway lands and preach its vision of a perfect world. Looking down at this isolated kingdom on the day the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, I am reminded of another island that imagined its green and pleasant land as a glorious haven if it could only take back control. Centuries have passed since More set out his idealistic future, but our utopian dreams seem to have struggled to develop beyond a desire to own a small patch of the planet where private castles can be maintained, and a particular culture can be protected and promoted.

At the dawn of Brexit, Utopias at the Whitworth in Manchester draws together art, literature and maps from a range of sources and artists to try to work out why the search is still on for a land flowing with milk and honey. Because, despite the fact utopia famously derives from the Greek ou-topos and means no place, the idea of a golden future is still a captivating concept. It was the main motivator behind Brexit regardless of which way you voted and if that nearly 50/50 vote is anything to go by, Brexit holds the key to why well never find utopia; no one can agree on what it should look like.

Beginning with a first edition of Mores 1516 book, the exhibition is arranged thematically rather than chronologically to uncover our timeless utopian obsessions. A 1920s map of the British Empire with the UK proudly at the centre sits alongside a 2018 photograph, Between the Acts by Simon Roberts, of people walking along the Seven Sisters cliffs in Sussex. Vivid green grass gives way suddenly to white jagged cliffs that fall away into the sea this is the gap between the UK and the rest of the world, it is the natural boundary that keeps others out. Both works are about land and borders, but whereas Roberts reflects on the preservation of one nation, the map quietly highlights the hypocrisy in plundering and invading numerous others with total disregard.

The red-faced shame that is slowly climbing up my neck reaches fever pitch when I arrive at William Hogarths invasion plates from 1756. Produced in response to fears of a French invasion, the first plate depicts a French rabble, disorderly and disorganised, sharpening axes and pointing guns. The second plate is set in England, where someone is drawing a crude painting of the French and the troops stand smartly in the background. Text under the first plate reads: But soon well teach these bragging foes that beef and beer give heavier blows than soup and roasted frogs. The pure stupidity of it would be laughable if it wasnt for its similarities to Ukips Breaking Point campaign, where fleeing refugees are reframed as hordes of unruly intruders.

Utopian propaganda is all over this exhibition and none of it is comfortable viewing. Lilian Lancasters 19th century comic maps of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales refer to England as a Queen Victoria, Queen of Hearts and Scotland as a gallant piper, struggling through the bogs, his wind bag broken, wearing his clay clogs. Nathan Coleys lightworks are covered in handprinted Zuber wallpaper inspired by the pilgrims who founded America. Smart, expensively dressed Europeans in carriages and steamboats arrive into a stunning landscape akin to Eden; to the side, a group of stereotypical Native Americans dance, adorned in leaves and feathers. This wallpaper hangs in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House.

Sweaty-palmed and stressed, by the time I reach the soft clouds and luscious greenery of Palmer, Constable and Turner, I find no affection for the land that has nurtured me all my life. There is light relief in Grayson Perry and Stephen Walters critiques of the utopian ideal. Walters Nova Utopia and Perrys Map of an Englishman are minutely detailed, black-and-white maps that reveal the impossibility of a perfect location. Contradictions are rife; Walters more literal map locates a place where they come to get away next to no trespassing and Perrys botox and eternal life buildings are next-door neighbours.

The hope in Utopias can be found in the final section, curated by the Whitworth Young Contemporaries, a diverse group of 16 to 24-year-olds. Rather than choosing one work each, they curated collectively, pressing through their differing opinions to present 16 pieces (ranging from Richard Hamilton to Christopher Nevinson) that encapsulated their varied perception of a utopia. Any utopic thing once enforced, becomes inherently dystopic, reads the groups manifesto. Perhaps the only utopia we can really hope for is the one where we agree to disagree.

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Utopias review the centuries-old illusion of 'taking back control' - The Guardian

EditorsNote: Edits in 5th graf

Paul George and Landry Shamet scored 23 points apiece, and the Los Angeles Clippers earned a 128-111 victory Wednesday over the visiting Miami Heat, who lost Jimmy Butler to an injury.

Kawhi Leonard, Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams each scored 14 points for the Clippers, who had eight players reach double figures.

Derrick Jones Jr. had 25 points and nine rebounds while Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and grabbed 11 boards for the Heat. Kendrick Nunn and Goran Dragic chipped in 13 points apiece.

Butler left the contest in the third quarter with a strained right shoulder and did not return. He had 11 points and seven assists in 26 minutes. Butler scored a season-high 38 points in a lopsided win over the Philadelphia 76ers, his former club, on Monday.

A 6-0 surge capped by a Jones dunk allowed the Heat to cut a double-digit deficit to 109-103 with about four minutes left. However, the Heat got no closer as the Clippers pulled away down the stretch.

The two clubs combined to attempt 96 3-pointers. The Clippers set franchise records for 3-pointers made and attempts, converting 24 of 54 (44.4 percent) to 16 of 42 (38.1 percent) for the Heat.

Los Angeles got off to a sluggish start before taking control in the second half. The Clippers went on a 16-2 run to take a 76-65 advantage after a pair of foul shots by George midway through the third quarter.

Miami pulled within six before Los Angeles increased the margin to 92-80 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Heat led by as much as 12 in the first half before the Clippers rallied to slice the gap to 58-55 at the break.

The Clippers recorded a season-high 35 assists to 29 for the Heat.

Los Angeles guard Patrick Beverley, who finished with five points and five rebounds in 22 minutes, left the game in the third quarter due to a sore right groin and did not return.

The Heat played without rookie guard Tyler Herro (sore right foot) and center Meyers Leonard (left ankle sprain).

--Field Level Media

Read more:
Clippers handle Heat as Butler exits - TheChronicleHerald.ca

WUHAN, China The Chinese government scrambled to contain not only the coronavirus epidemic but also growing expressions of public fury over the management of the crisis as the death toll rose on Tuesday to at least 106.

Chinas National Immigration Administration on Tuesday encouraged Chinese citizens to reconsider the timing of overseas travel to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, it said on its WeChat account. That came as the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged American citizens to avoid nonessential travel to China.

Premier Li Keqiang, the prime minister of the Chinese government, flew on Monday into Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, to show support for medical workers and to pledge needed medical supplies only to be mocked online for leading workers in an encouraging cheer.

Mr. Lis visit, which featured prominently in state media, came as Wuhans mayor, Zhou Xianwang, acknowledged that the local authorities had moved too slowly in the first days of the crisis.

In an interview with CCTV, the main state television network, the mayor said that information about the coronavirus had not been shared with the public in a timely manner, and that he and the citys Communist Party secretary, Ma Guoqiang, were prepared to resign to appease public indignation.

Our names will live in infamy for shutting the door of the city, Mr. Zhou said. But we believe that as long as it helps to control the disease, helps keep peoples lives safe, Comrade Ma Guoqiang and I will shoulder any responsibility, Mr. Zhou said.

The offer to resign, which was not immediately acted on, suggested that Chinas harshly practical party hierarchy could settle on local officials like the mayor and the party secretary as sacrifices to ease public ire over a spiraling public health crisis that also threatens to take a large economic toll.

With the death toll rising to at least 106, and infections spreading to still more countries, the impacts reverberated globally. Stocks tumbled and oil prices fell on Monday as the viruss spread worried investors worldwide.

The S&P 500 fell 1.6 percent, its sharpest decline in nearly four months, with shares of airlines and companies dependent on tourism from China particularly hard hit.

Major stock benchmarks in Europe were down more than 2 percent. While many markets in Asia were closed for the holiday, Tokyos benchmark Nikkei 225 index sank 2 percent.

Chinas currency also fell, while investors moved into safe havens like gold.

In China, the government announced that it would extend for three days the weeklong holiday for the Lunar New Year, which had been scheduled to end on Thursday. The countrys economy, which is experiencing its worst slowdown in nearly three decades, is already hurting from the impact of the outbreak, and there are fears that consumer spending will fall as residents stay home over the extended holiday.

In Beijing, where 72 cases had been reported by Monday morning, officials warned that anyone who returned to the city from other parts of China must confine themselves to their homes for 14 days.

That could significantly reduce the citys work force even after the extended holiday ends. Hundreds of millions of people travel during the holiday, which began on Saturday, and would normally begin returning in the coming days.

In Shanghai, the countrys financial center, the authorities ordered businesses to stay closed until midnight on Feb. 9. In nearby Suzhou, a large manufacturing hub, businesses there were ordered to open no sooner than Feb. 8. Some companies, including the internet giant Tencent, also told their workers to stay home until Feb. 10.

The epidemic has already shuttered many major tourist attractions, including the Disney theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong, as well as the Forbidden City and sections of the Great Wall outside of Beijing.

Major film studios postponed the opening of movies at what would normally have been a peak viewing season, while several sporting events were canceled or postponed. Chinas professional basketball league, the C.B.A., announced that it would suspend its season indefinitely.

The crisis has emerged as an unexpected challenge for the Communist Party leadership, especially for President Xi Jinping, who said nothing in public about the matter until he convened an extraordinary meeting of the partys Politburo Standing Committee on Saturday.

Mr. Li, an economist who has been premier since 2013, has taken the formal lead of Chinas crisis management team for the epidemic. But the much more powerful Mr. Xi, who is also the Communist Party leader, has signaled that he is the real power in charge.

Only days earlier, Mr. Li had reflected less urgency about the viral outbreak when discussing it without wearing a medical mask while meeting medical workers in faraway Qinghai province.

On Monday, by contrast, he made several appearances around Wuhan, visiting a hospital, where he promised to deliver 20,000 surgical masks, and a supermarket, where now wearing a mask he led workers in a chant.

Wuhan, he said. Jia you, they responded in chorus, using a phrase that means add oil but is roughly translated as a rousing Go!

On Twitter, which is blocked in China, the gesture was mocked. Wuhan pneumonia is afraid of slogans, one user posted in Chinese.

Wuhans residents have largely hunkered down to quietly wait out the epidemic. They mostly stay inside their homes, venturing out for supplies and food, medical visits and occasional bursts of exercise.

Still, several said they had heard about Mr. Lis visit and welcomed it as a sign that the central leadership was committed to supporting the city and surrounding areas, which have been locked down since last week.

This shows that theyre getting serious, said Shao Shigui, a retired steelworker from southwest China who was strolling on a promenade by the Yangtze River. He had come to Wuhan with his wife to help their daughter, who is pregnant, and said he was taking a break from the monotony of staying indoors.

In China, if a leader visits, that shows that all the resources of the government can be mobilized, he said.

The United States, Japan, France, Russia and other countries, meanwhile, scrambled to get citizens who were trapped in the city out, after the government shut down the major modes of transportation.

Since then the city of 11 million has descended into a surreal quiet except around the hospitals.

Most shops remained closed, but supermarkets, fresh produce stores and pharmacies opened, although many pharmacies have run out of protective masks, hand disinfectant and other supplies needed to protect against the virus.

Residents with fevers and coughs who worried that they may have contracted the coronavirus continued to line up at clinics and hospitals, but in fewer numbers than previous days. The streets were mostly free of cars, and many residents walked or rode bicycles to do their shopping.

Its possible to live, but its not a real New Year, said Qiu Dongjun, a 38-year-old construction worker from rural Hubei who was carrying a bag of groceries. Ive been eating so many containers of instant noodles that my mouth and nose are flaming raw.

He said Mr. Lis visit was a promising political gesture.

People in Wuhan have many practical problems, he said. How will our wages get paid? What if businesses go under? Who will ensure we get our unpaid wages? These are practical problems, he said, his voice partly muffled by his protective mask.

You cant expect all those problems to be solved in Beijing, he said before walking off.

The mayor of Wuhan, Mr. Zhou, defended his actions even as he accepted responsibility for falling short. He said he had been hampered from alerting the public sooner because of the reporting rules under the laws governing disease outbreaks. He suggested he had to wait for approval from higher-level officials.

One woman responded angrily in the comments page below the Peoples Dailys live stream of the mayors interview on Weibo, the popular Chinese social media platform. She noted that the government had informed the World Health Organization on Dec. 31, but not the public most directly affected until Jan. 20.

The Wuhan government will be condemned throughout the ages if it turns the map of China all red, she wrote, referring to maps depicting the spread of the virus.

After weeks of limited steps before the gravity of the epidemic was recognized, government agencies have galvanized to fight the crisis, setting aside other priorities for now.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said in a notice dated Sunday that banks must not blindly call in loans, cut off lending or hold off on lending in response to the crisis.

On Monday, State Grid, the government-controlled electricity provider, said it would halt the shut-off of electricity to residents whose bills fall into arrears while authorities deal with the outbreak.

Chris Buckley reported from Wuhan and Steven Lee Myers from Beijing. Raymond Zhong, Alexandra Stevenson and Katie Robertson contributed reporting. Elsie Chen, Claire Fu, Zoe Mou and Elaine Yu contributed research.

Originally posted here:
Chinese Officials Race to Contain Anger Over Virus - The New York Times