Beauty house Coty Inc has inked a deal with Italy’s Piaggio Group – the owner of Vespa – to launch signature scents for the trendy scooter brand.

 

Coty will create, develop and distribute a fragrance duo for men and women under the Vespa name which is expected to debut as quickly as May 2014. Vespa is a symbol of Italian style and technology with more than 18m scooters sold since its creation in 1946.

 

This deal, announced on Monday, comes on the back of Coty’s half-year fiscal results (announced on Friday) which showed a -4% fall in net revenue to $2,501.4m, as well as sharper declines in operating income and net incomes from -10% to -20% (see table below and click to enlarge).

 

 

On the same day, the company said it would repurchase up to $200m of its shares. In a statement, Michele Scannavini, Coty CEO, said: “We believe that returning cash to shareholders in the form of stock repurchases is another way to deliver on the company’s ongoing commitment to enhance shareholder value.” No timescale has been set for the completion of the repurchase programme, and it may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

 

Looking ahead to its fiscal second half, Coty says it expects challenges to come from continuing market softness, particularly in the mass channel. However, the company plans to return to top-line growth through acceleration in emerging markets – where it saw positive results in Q2 in Brazil, south-east Asia and South Africa – plus continuous marketing support to its power brands such as Calvin Klein, Chloé and Davidoff.