Dive Brief:
- Beauty brand Revlon announced Tuesday Matt Kvarda, currently serving as managing director for consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal LLC, will join the firm as interim CFO effective Oct. 1 following the retirement of their present top financial officer.
- Revlon will pay Alvarez & Marsal a monthly fee of $165,000 while Kvarda serves as its interim CFO, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), subject to approval by the bankruptcy court. Kvarda will take over from long-time CFO Victoria Dolan, who informed the company of her retirement Aug. 8, per the filing. Dolan will stay on with the company until Sept. 30 to ensure a smooth transition.
- The CFO switch follows approximately two months after the brand filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 15 citing plans to reorganize its legacy capital structure. Revlon pointed to “continued global challenges” including supply chain struggles and rising inflation as well as obligations to lenders as factors behind the restructuring in a June 16 press release.
Dive Insight:
An 18-year veteran of Alvarez & Marsal, Kvarda also previously served as senior director for KPMG, one of the big four U.S. audit firms. He has also held executive roles at Bank of America, where he acted as an assistant VP for three years beginning Sept. 1992, per his LinkedIn.
Dolan has been the CFO for Revlon — which includes additional beauty names such as Almay and Elizabeth Arden as well as its titular brand under its corporate banner — for four years, joining the firm in the top financial seat in May 2018. She previously served as chief transformation officer and corporate controller for Colgate-Palmolive before moving to Revlon, and has held previous CFO and executive roles for hotel chain Marriott International according to her LinkedIn.
Revlon CEO Debra Perelman noted the executive team is looking forward to “working closely with [Kvarda] to drive forward the restructuring process in the months to come” in a statement included in the company’s press release regarding the executive swap.
The reshuffling of its finance leadership comes as Revlon fields calls from minority shareholders who are seeking more say in the bankruptcy process, with stakeholders urging government lawyers to appoint an official committee to represent equity holders’ interest early last month, according to a July 13 report by the Wall Street Journal.
The company’s stock experienced an unexpected rally after its initial bankruptcy filing, per the WSJ report, though Revlon’s stock price saw a small dip following its lackluster second quarter results — also reported Tuesday, though the brand declined to host an earnings call due to ongoing Chapter 11 proceedings.
Revlon reported net sales of $442.6 million for the second quarter of 2022, a $54.8 million or 11% decrease year-over-year (YoY). The company also reported an adjusted net earnings loss of $275.6 million, compared to a $67.7 million loss in the prior year period. Revlon attributed this bump to the $158.3 million in charges relating to its Chapter 11 filings, as well as lower operating income and higher foreign currency losses for the quarter per its earnings release.
Revlon declined to comment past details included in their Tuesday release.
