Dive Brief:
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The Birkenstock Group on Tuesday said that Ivica Krolo will replace Erik Massmann as chief financial officer as of Feb. 1. Massmann will step down from the role on Jan. 31, but will support the transition, the company said.
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Krolo joins the company from investment firm EMH Partners, where he was partner and CFO since 2015, with specialization in finance, tax, legal and corporate administration. He previously held positions at accounting firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and Mazars.
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The footwear brand reiterated last month’s guidance for fiscal year 2025, which includes year-on-year currency-adjusted revenue growth of 15% to 17% “with strong contribution from all segments, channels and categories.” The company also expects gross profit margin improvements thanks to new production facilities.
Dive Insight:
A little over a year into its tenure as a public company, Birkenstock is turning to a new CFO. Massmann served “in a moment when the role of the CFO was mission-critical when preparing for our IPO,” CEO Oliver Reichert said in a statement.
The brand polished off its fiscal year on high note, with Q4 revenue up 21.7% year over year to 455.8 million euros, (about $474 million at the time) and double-digit growth across geographies. During its first full fiscal year since its October 2023 IPO, revenue rose nearly 21% to 1.8 billion euros.
In the quarter, the brand’s wholesale revenue grew 26% while direct-to-consumer rose 18%.
Like other companies, Birkenstock aims to boost the DTC side of the ledger, and it opened 20 stores during the year, bringing its total owned locations to 67. Executives last month told analysts that they are being disciplined but ambitious about expanding the fleet, with a goal to increase it by 50% in fiscal 2025.
On Tuesday, Reichert said in another statement that Krolo “is an experienced finance executive with a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape in which we operate and with a significant operational and financial planning expertise.”
“With his pragmatic hands-on and people-first approach, Ivica is a great fit for our global Birkenstock family,” he said. “I am looking forward to working with him and to further shaping the Global Finance function as a backbone for sustainable and profitable growth, and to writing the next chapter of our success story.”
