Nykaa CEO Steps Up as Marketing Head as Six Executives Resign Amid Growing Competition

Six executives, including the marketing head, of India’s cosmetics-to-fashion retailer Nykaa have resigned since April, the company said on Wednesday, key departures that come as competition intensifies in the fast-growing sector.

The exits include that of Chief Marketing Officer Shalini Raghavan, with Nykaa’s founder and CEO Falguni Nayar stepping up to take direct oversight of that function, given its criticality, the company said.

The others who have quit are Kingshuk Basu, a senior vice president (VP) for retail; Sumant Kasliwal, senior VP in the fashion unit; Aditya Sandhu from the business-to-business sales unit; VP Sachin Kataria from the e-commerce business; and Shantanu Prakash, VP for marketing and communications.

“Leadership roles are being augmented with an eye on strategic realignment, cost rationalization and growing complexity of the business,” Nykaa said in a statement when Reuters asked about the departures

It did not say why the executives had left.

Nykaa offers beauty products on its website and at stores, competing with rivals Tata Group and Reliance, both of which have interests in the fast-growing $16 billion (nearly Rs. 1,32,400 crore) beauty and personal care market in the world’s most populous country.

In March, Reuters reported five key executives had quit Nykaa, including its chief commercial operations officer and the CEO of its wholesale business.

Nykaa’s said on Wednesday that it elevated Shailendra Singh as business head for physical retail — beauty, in June.

Shares of Nykaa parent, FSN E-Commerce Ventures, have fallen nearly 60 percent from their listing price in November 2021.

FSN reported a 71.8 percent drop in net profit for the January-March 2023 quarter, but an almost 50 percent rise in pre-tax profit.

Its investor presentation said it recorded a 4 percent growth in core employees, or business executives, in that period, compared to 17 percent and 25 percent growth in the previous two quarters.

© Thomson Reuters 2023