Ferragamo marketing chief leaving company

Ferragamo’s head of marketing and communications, Antonio Burrello, is leaving the group, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, signalling further management changes at the Florentine shoemaker.

Burrello had started at Ferragamo in January 2017, brought in by former CEO Eraldo Poletto, who lasted only a year and a half in the job.

Ferragamo parted ways with Poletto in March, a year after the former Furla executive unveiled a plan aimed at refreshing the style of the group’s products and increasing their appeal to a younger clientele.

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Following Poletto’s exit, Chairman Ferruccio Ferragamo took over the running of the group. In April, however, Gucci executive Micaela Le Divelec was appointed as general manager.

Analysts at Jefferies said in a recent note the company was taking too long to pick a new CEO, and management turmoil was damaging while the expected naming of Le Divelec would be positive for the stock.

"Micaela Le Divelec ... knows both the sector and the family well. Feedback from sector insiders is strong and although the task is challenging her likely appointment would be a positive,” the broker said.

Ferragamo issued a profit warning in December and is battling falling sales and profitability, partly due to a clean-up of inventories.

Further weighing on the stock, the controlling family placed a 3.5 percent stake in the group at a deep discount last week.

The Ferragamo family, who now owns 65 percent of the company famous for the shoes worn by Hollywood stars such as Audrey Hepburn, has repeatedly denied any intention to sell.