EL PASO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 28, 2014--
Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ, NM: HELE), designer, developer and
worldwide marketer of brand-name houseware, healthcare/home environment
and personal care consumer products, announced the reorganization of its
corporate departments and functions into three global shared service
groups, each headed by a member of the executive leadership team. The
three shared service groups; Global Finance, Global Operations, and
Global Legal, Human Resources and Investor Relations, are expected to
strengthen the Company’s operating platform into a best-in-class support
system for its businesses, increase productivity by better leveraging
global scale, and improve collaboration across businesses and
departments worldwide. These changes become effective May 1, 2014.
Julien R. Mininberg, who became CEO of Helen of Troy on March 1, 2014,
said: “This reorganization is an important step in our strategy to
transform the relationship between our El Paso operations, our
market-facing business units around the world, and our geographically
distributed shared service facilities such as our warehouses, China
operations, and corporate departments such as Finance, Human Resources
and Information Technology. Consolidating our shared services under
highly empowered executives with global responsibility is critical to
enabling our business units to leverage more of our $1.3 billion
footprint. We expect the shared service groups to be a key source of
productivity improvements, best practices, simplification and
standardization, compliance, reporting, and the key functions of a
public company. With Helen of Troy more than tripling in size over the
past 10 years, this reorganization should help elevate our operational
platform, better positioning us for sustainable growth.”
Global Finance will be headed by Mr. Brian Grass, who is being promoted
to Chief Financial Officer. Brian has been with Helen of Troy for over
seven years as Vice President and Assistant CFO. He has been a primary
engine managing the Company’s finance functions during a period of
dramatic growth. Mr. Grass has also been a significant part of the
integration of past acquisitions and has been active in the Company’s
SEC reporting and governance processes. Mr. Grass will oversee the
global accounting, SEC reporting, tax, treasury, credit and collection,
and internal reporting functions. Mr. Grass will also focus on bringing
new tools and capabilities to the market-facing finance managers in each
business unit, while providing continuity of leadership and oversight in
corporate finance functions. Mr. Grass has over 13 years of previous
experience in public accounting and financial leadership roles.
Global Operations will be headed by Mr. Thomas Benson, who is being
promoted to Chief Operations Officer. Mr. Benson has been SVP/CFO of
Helen of Troy for 10 years and has a strong track record of success,
including leadership skills and business experience that stretch beyond
his responsibilities as CFO. In his new role, Mr. Benson will oversee
the global operational capabilities of the Company, including Helen of
Troy’s sourcing and order processing centers in China, the Company’s
three U.S. warehouses totaling more than 2.7 million square feet, global
information technology, transportation, logistics, customer service, and
product testing/certification labs. Mr. Benson is a hands-on manger who
brings a strong background in operations before joining Helen of Troy,
and has been closely involved with key operational activities during his
tenure with the Company.
Global Legal, Human Resources and Investor Relations will be headed by
Mr. Vincent Carson, who is being promoted to Chief Legal, Human Resource
and Investor Relations Officer. Mr. Carson has been with Helen of Troy
for 12 years. In addition to Mr. Carson’s current responsibility as
global General Counsel, he will take on three major additional
responsibilities, including Human Resources, Investor Relations, and
Corporate Communications. In his expanded responsibilities, Mr. Carson
will serve a critical role ensuring we attract and retain the best
talent, maintaining strong relations with our shareholders, and
communicating with all our internal and external stakeholders.
Mr. Mininberg continued, “I am delighted to promote these three highly
talented, proven senior leaders to head up our global shared services.
Each will report to me, bringing the powerful combination of their deep
knowledge of the Company, their leadership skills, and their strong
functional expertise. I look forward to the improvements in productivity
and ability to support our business units as they focus on winning in
the marketplace.”
Mr. Tim Meeker, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: “This new
structure is strongly in the interest of our shareholders. By moving to
a true shared service model for corporate capabilities, we can better
keep our business units focused on delivering sales and profits. The new
structure supports the business units and go-to-market organizations
with more timely and cost-effective service, leverages more of our $1.3
billion global enterprise, and begins a process of standardizing best
practices where appropriate. This is highly consistent with the culture
our new CEO is building, empowering senior leaders to work
collaboratively across the Company, think more globally, and build new
capabilities that can grow with the Company. The new structure also
reduces his direct reports by roughly half, helping him focus on key
opportunities for the business and organization.”
About Helen of Troy Limited:
About Helen of Troy Limited: Helen of Troy Limited is a leading
global consumer products company offering creative solutions for its
customers through a strong portfolio of well-recognized and
widely-trusted brands, including: Housewares: OXO®, Good
Grips®, Soft Works®, OXO tot® and OXO Steel®; Healthcare/Home
Environment: Vicks®, Braun®, Honeywell®, PUR®, Febreze®,
Stinger®, Duracraft® and SoftHeat®; and Personal Care:
Revlon®, Vidal Sassoon®, Dr. Scholl's®, TONI&GUY®, Sure®, Pert®,
Infusium23®, Brut®, Ammens®, Hot Tools®, Bed Head®, Karina®, Sea Breeze®
and Gold 'N Hot®. The Honeywell® trademark is used under license from
Honeywell International Inc. The Vicks®, Braun®, Febreze® and Vidal
Sassoon® trademarks are used under license from The Procter & Gamble
Company. The Revlon® trademark is used under license from Revlon
Consumer Products Corporation. The Bed Head® trademark is used under
license from Unilever PLC. The Dr. Scholl's® trademark is used under
license from MSD Consumer Care, Inc.
For in-depth information about Helen of Troy, please visit www.hotus.com.
Forward Looking Statements:
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are
subject to change. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to
the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Any or all of the forward-looking statements may turn out
to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known
or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many of these factors will be
important in determining the Company's actual future results.
Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Actual
future results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in
any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are
qualified in their entirety by a number of risks that could cause actual
results to differ materially from historical or anticipated results.
Generally, the words "anticipates", "estimates", "believes", "expects",
"plans", "may", "will", "should", "seeks", "project", "predict",
"potential", "continue", "intends", and other similar words identify
forward-looking statements. The Company cautions readers not to place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company intends its
forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of such
statements, and does not undertake to update or revise them as more
information becomes available. The forward-looking statements contained
in this press release should be read in conjunction with, and are
subject to and qualified by, the risks described in the Company's
Form 10-K for the year ended February 28, 2014 and in our other filings
with the SEC. Investors are urged to refer to the risk factors referred
to above for a description of these risks. Such risks include, among
others, the departure and recruitment of key personnel, the Company's
ability to deliver products to our customers in a timely manner, the
costs of complying with the business demands and requirements of large
sophisticated customers, the Company's relationship with key customers
and licensors, our dependence on the strength of retail economies and
vulnerabilities to an economic downturn, expectations regarding
acquisitions and the integration of acquired businesses, exchange
rate risks, disruptions in U.S., European and other international credit
markets, risks associated with weather conditions, the Company’s
dependence on foreign sources of supply and foreign manufacturing ,the
impact of changing costs of raw materials and energy on cost of goods
sold and certain operating expenses, the Company's geographic
concentration of certain U.S. distribution facilities, which increases
our exposure to significant shipping disruptions and added shipping and
storage costs, difficulties encountered during the transition to the
Company’s new distribution facility could interrupt the Company’s
logistical systems and cause shipping disruptions, the Company's
projections of product demand, sales, net income and earnings per share
are highly subjective and our future net sales revenue and net income
could vary in a material amount from such projections, circumstances
that may contribute to future impairment of goodwill, intangible or
other long-lived assets, the risks associated with the use of trademarks
licensed from and to third parties, the Company's ability to develop and
introduce innovative new products to meet changing consumer preferences,
trade barriers, exchange controls, expropriations, and other risks
associated with foreign operations, the Company’s debt leverage and the
constraints it may impose, the costs, complexity and challenges of
upgrading and managing our global information systems, the risks
associated with information security breaches, the risks associated with
tax audits and related disputes with taxing authorities, potential
changes in laws, including tax laws, and the Company's ability to
continue to avoid classification as a controlled foreign corporation.
Source: Helen of Troy Limited
Investor Contacts:
ICR, Inc.
Allison Malkin / Anne Rakunas
203-682-8200
/ 310-954-1113