Latest news with #Paravicini
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Imperial Brands CEO departure spooks market, CFO to take reins
HighlightsStefan Bomhard, the CEO of Imperial Brands, announced his retirement after five years, leading to a more than 7 percent drop in the company's shares as investors reacted negatively to the unexpected news. Lukas Paravicini, the Chief Financial Officer, will succeed Bomhard as CEO on October 1, and is expected to continue the company's growth strategy targeting up to 5 percent annual profit growth until 2030. Under Bomhard's leadership, Imperial Brands experienced a significant turnaround, restoring market share and achieving nearly 90 percent share price growth during his tenure, despite challenges in expanding smoking alternatives. Imperial Brands said CEO Stefan Bomhard will retire after five years in the job, sending the British cigarette maker's shares down more than 7 per cent as investors lamented the unexpected loss of a leader credited with turning its performance around. Under Bomhard, the maker of Winston, Davidoff and Gauloises cigarettes has enjoyed a rebound in sales and returns as it focused on core markets and its tobacco business , while also looking to expand in smoking alternatives . Finance chief Lukas Paravicini will take over as CEO on October 1 and will be tasked with driving that growth strategy forward as the company targets up to 5 per cent annual profit growth until 2030. Shares in the company, which also owns e-cigarette brand blu, nicotine pouch brand Zone and heated tobacco device Pulze, were trading 7.9% lower at 0930 GMT on Wednesday, having gained nearly 90% during Bomhard's tenure. Prior to Bomhard's arrival Imperial had lost market share in its core tobacco business and failed to gain any real traction with new products like vapes, resulting in years of missed sales targets and a 2020 write-down. Bomhard restored that market share, sales growth and healthy investor returns by retreating to focus on traditional tobacco in Imperial's key markets. He also fine-tuned the company's strategy on smoking alternatives - a portfolio which delivered double-digit growth in the first half of this year. "There is no doubting the disappointment in Stefan Bomhard announcing his retirement... after an exceptional five-year run," Panmure Liberum analyst Rae Maile said in a note. While the departure of such a well-regarded CEO after a strong run always causes investor concern, CFO Paravicini's appointment as Bomhard's successor should give shareholders confidence, Barclays analyst Gaurav Jain said. CONTINUITY Paravicini told investors on an analysts' call he was committed to Imperial's five-year strategy set out in March and a capital allocation framework based around healthy returns for shareholders. Under that strategy, Paravicini is tasked with stepping up growth in smoking alternatives, where Imperial lags competitors, and compounding progress on tobacco in difficult markets like Germany, where Imperial has struggled to regain lost share amid stiff competition. Bomhard portrayed his departure as "a very personal decision" related to freeing up personal time for himself and his family after 11 years leading large UK companies. He was previously CEO of car distributor Inchcape and held senior roles at Unilever and Bacardi. Bomhard will remain on the board until December 31 and will be available until May 2026 to support the transition. Imperial Brands' Chief Strategy and Development Officer Murray McGowan will replace Paravicini as CFO. The company also reported a 1.8 per cent rise in first-half adjusted operating profit at constant currency, just shy of analysts' estimates of 2%, and reaffirmed its annual forecast.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Laboratorio Paravicini Creates Its Hand-Painted Ceramic Plates
Tablescaping in Milan is serious business. In this design-oriented city, every well-coiffed sciura worth her salt relies on an arsenal of the finest flatware, crystal, linens, and more. And in certain spheres, you'd be hard-pressed to find any easily identifiable china pattern, for this is a milieu where, refreshingly, individuality is still prized. Among the most coveted makers? Laboratorio Paravicini. Launched in the early 1990s by Costanza Paravicini in a historic 18th-century compound where she and her family still reside, the enterprise initially was a hobby for the skilled artist, who couldn't find any plates on the market that truly spoke to her. Word of her wares quickly spread around Milan, and a business was born that now includes Paravicini's two daughters—Benedetta and Margherita Medici. What really distinguishes Laboratorio Paravicini, apart from the intricate hand-painted designs that run the gamut from Art Deco to avant-garde, is perhaps the ultimate luxury: dishwasher-safe ceramics. More from Robb Report Art Director Marella Rivolta-Zagato's Guide to Milan for the Automotive Obsessed Here's How the Real Estate Market Will Fare Next Year, According to 2025 Housing Forecasts Artworks Confiscated From the Mafia Are Being Exhibited in Milan 'Tableware has overtaken fashion,' says Benedetta, noting the sheer number of clothing designers who have expanded into the space. Luxury e-commerce sites such as Moda Operandi and Abask were among the first to embrace the firm, offering ready-to-order options for many of Paravicini's best-selling styles, such as the Serpi and the Bloom ranges ($705 and $490, respectively, for six dinner plates). A single bespoke dish can reach $400 for the most elaborate motifs, such as a dense border of flora and fauna particular to one's country estate. The choices are limited only by your and Paravicini's imaginations. Plan accordingly: Such designs can require about one month's work, so you easily could be looking at a year for a complete set. Best of Robb Report The 10 Priciest Neighborhoods in America (And How They Got to Be That Way) In Pictures: Most Expensive Properties Click here to read the full article. The ceramic dishes that serve as the canvas are made by an artisan in the countryside outside Milan using Paravicini's proprietary molds. The choice of ceramic over porcelain was intentional, as it offers more warmth of hue. While the designs themselves are not stenciled on prior to painting, pencils are used minimally in order to give the painter a visual boundary and to ensure that any center details such as bespoke monograms or family crests are placed exactly where they should be. Though each plate is inherently unique, given the handmade nature of the products, Paravicini achieves maximum consistency by assigning a single artist to not only an individual plate but also an entire order. High-fire, watercolor-like pigments allow for increased depth and layering, thanks to their translucence. All decorative work is done by hand directly on the raw plate, and any shortcuts such as heat transfers are out of the question. Depending on the complexity of the design, painting may be done in multiple stages before being left to dry. Owing to Milan's safety regulations, the firing cannot be done on-site. Dishes are packed up and transported to a kiln outside the city limits—one of the few remaining from the once-booming ceramics industry in Lodi. Prior to being loaded into the kiln, the plates are dipped into a glaze resin. The result is a shiny, glass-like surface. If a gold or platinum rim is desired, it's now painted on in a thin black line that a second firing renders metallic. Pieces that feature this detail are the only items of Paravicini's that are not dishwasher-safe. The newly fired dishes are now ready to be polished before being brought back to the Milan HQ and carefully packaged in Paravicini's signature sunny yellow boxes and dispatched to tastemakers around the globe. The atelier accepts orders online, but the showroom is so enticing, it's worth the trip.
