Shiseido has updated its executive board with two new members.
The Japanese beauty giant has named Ayako Hirofuji as Representative Corporate Executive Officer and Director.
Yasuhiro Nakajima, meanwhile, has been appointed as External Director, effective March 2025.
The appointments aim to further “strengthen the separation of execution and oversight” and enhance the effectiveness of the board of directors.
It follows the retirement of Masahiko Uotani and Hiroshi Ozu, who served as Director and External Director respectively.
President and CEO Kentaro Fujiwara has also been reelected during the board shakeup.
“Shiseido has established ‘beauty innovations for a better world’ as its mission within its corporate philosophy, the ‘Shiseido philosophy’, and positions corporate governance as the foundation for achieving sustainable growth through the fulfilment of that mission,” Shiseido said in a statement.
“In this context, External Directors are regarded as one of the key elements of corporate governance, believing that the role in monitoring business execution from an independent standpoint is crucial for maximising corporate and shareholder value.”
The executive board reshuffle follows the beauty company’s mid-year financial results, which saw shares drop by 16% during trading in August.
It was the biggest slide in a single day since 1987, leading to a trading halt, and was the result of Shiseido being hit by restructuring costs and sluggish demand in China.
The company reported an operating loss of ¥2.7bn (US$18.4m) for the six months to 30 June 2024, in contrast to operating profit of ¥13.6bn in H1 2023.
The NARS and Drunk Elephant owner’s H1 net sales were ¥508.5bn, down 0.5% on the prior year period on a like-for-like basis.