VF Corp. announced that Benno Dorer, lead independent director of the VF board of directors, has been appointed interim president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Richard Carucci, who has served on the board since 2009, will serve as interim chairman of the board.
Dorer’s appointment follows Steve Rendle’s decision to retire from the company after more than five years as chairman, president and chief executive officer and nearly 25 years with the company. The company said that VF has begun a search for a permanent chief executive officer and has retained a leading executive search firm to help evaluate internal and external candidates.
Dorer joined the VF board of directors in 2017 and has been lead independent director since 2021. He is a member of the board of directors of Origin Materials, Inc. He served as executive chair of the board of The Clorox Company from September 2020 to February 2021, chief executive officer of Clorox from November 2014 to September 2020 and chairman of the board of Clorox from August 2016 to September 2020. Before serving as CEO, he was Clorox’s executive vice president and chief operating officer from January 2013 to November 2014. Prior to that, he served in various roles as senior vice president and general manager. Before joining Clorox in 2005, he worked for Procter & Gamble since 1990 in various marketing and sales roles in the U.S. and Europe.
Carucci said, “We are fortunate to have Benno lead VF while the Board conducts a search for a permanent CEO. He knows VF extremely well and has an excellent track record of generating strong business results in a global consumer portfolio business.”
“It has been an honor to lead VF as CEO over the last five years,” commented Rendle. “I depart with the deepest gratitude for the extremely talented and dedicated global team at VF. I remain as confident as ever in VF’s tremendous potential and look forward to watching the company’s continued success.”
Financial outlook for FY23
Concurrent with the announcement of the CEO change, VF revised its FY2023 outlook to reflect the impact of weaker-than-expected consumer demand across all categories, particularly in North America, resulting in a higher-than-expected advertising environment, as well as wholesale order cancellations to manage trade inventories. Also impacting the outlook, albeit to a lesser extent, are the higher-than-expected impact of inflation on consumer spending in Europe and continued Covid-19-related disruptions in China, VF said.
The company now expects overall sales growth in the second half of FY23 to be slightly lower than previously announced. Full-year revenue growth is expected to be 3 to 4 percent in constant dollars (excluding the impact of foreign currency translation into U.S. dollars), compared to previous guidance of 5 to 6 percent in constant dollars. The advertising environment, particularly in North America, and the reduction in SG&A due to lower sales volumes are expected to impact profitability in the near term. Full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share are now expected to be $2.00 to $2.20, compared to $3.18 in the prior year and compared to the prior outlook of $2.40 to $2.50. Adjusted amounts exclude transaction and closing-related activities, costs associated with certain strategic business decisions, non-cash impairment charges and a pension charge.
VF remains committed to its FY27 long-term goals and capital allocation priorities, as outlined at its recent Investor Day on Sept. 28, 2022, and is focused on executing its strategy to create strong long-term shareholder value and improve near-term performance.
