New Henkel Chief Executive Officer Hans van Bylen has said he will invest in the company’s hero brands such as hair care range Scwarzkopf in a bid to boost profits and develop in emerging markets.
Approximately $3.2 billion will be spent on the popular brands over the next four years, with the money earmarked for product development, a quicker manufacturer-to-shelf turnaround, digital investment and emerging markets, according to van Bylen.
While little detail was given regarding the new strategies, acquisitions will play a large part, according to van Bylen. Speaking on an analyst conference call he said, “As the world is changing very fast we also want to be sure that we allocate our costs, be it investments, to where we have the most value created.”
Analysts were not overly impressed with the 2020 targets, with shares dipping following news that the company has pledged to double digitally driven sales to more than 4 billion euro.