Coty Inc. (NYSE: COTY) reported fiscal year 2025 and fourth-quarter results in line with expectations, navigating a challenging year marked by U.S. softness, retailer destocking, and pressure in mass cosmetics. The company expanded gross margins in FY25, delivered adjusted EBITDA of $1.08 billion with an 18.4% margin, and generated approximately $280 million in free cash flow, while reporting net revenue of $5.89 billion, down 4% year-over-year.
CEO Sue Nabi highlighted Coty’s transformation over the past five years: “Coty is operating from a position of reinvigorated strength after five years of transformation and proven execution. From FY21 through FY25, we delivered best-in-class 10% net revenue CAGR in Prestige fragrance sales and 2% net revenue CAGR in Consumer Beauty sales, strong profit expansion, and a 3x reduction in our leverage, contributing to 12 rating-agency upgrades.” She emphasized that despite headwinds, Coty “moved with speed and focus to return Coty to a path of consistent and profitable growth,” citing $140 million in productivity savings, digital integration that drove $1 billion in e-commerce revenue, and initiatives to mitigate tariff risks by shifting more fragrance production to the U.S.
Nabi also pointed to Coty’s unique position in the fragrance market: “Consumer demand for beauty continues to grow at a solid pace, with ongoing fragrance category outperformance… Coty is perfectly positioned to win, as the only global fragrance player actively targeting both the high and low price tiers, playing into the booming ‘treatonomics’ trend.” She added that blockbuster launches like Boss Bottled Beyond are already tracking ahead of expectations, while new fragrance mist rollouts across multiple brands are expected to create additional profitable growth.
Looking to FY26, Coty expects sequential improvement in like-for-like sales and adjusted EBITDA, with a return to growth anticipated in the second half. “All of this underpins our expectations for steady, sequential trend improvement in LFL sales and adjusted EBITDA through FY26, returning to growth in 2H26,” Nabi said. With a strong innovation pipeline, organizational changes, and expanding distribution, the company aims to re-establish consistent growth following four years of momentum and a more challenging FY25.
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