Low-price jeweller Lovisa has confirmed that its group chief financial officer, Chris Lauder, has tabled his resignation.
Lauder will serve out a six-month notice period, with his final day on April 7, 2027.
According to Lovisa, the group has a “very strong” global finance team, adding that the board will appoint a successor following a global search process.
On behalf of the wider team, Lovisa Global CEO John Cheston thanked Lauder for his significant contribution to the group over the last nine years, wishing him well for the future.
Prior to his nine-year career at Lovisa, Lauder was previously the group GM of finance at Myer. He had held senior financial roles at Myer for 10 years since 2007. He also held an accounting role at Telstra and was an audit manager at KPMG.
Lauder’s exit comes after Lovisa reported a 17.6 per cent jump in total revenue in FY26, hitting $938 million. At the same time, the company’s gross profit jumped 18.4 per cent to $775.3 million, with earnings before interest and tax up 14.1 per cent to $158.2 million.
At the bottom line, its net profit after tax (NPAT) grew by 10.7 per cent to $95.6 million.
Cheston said much of this growth was driven by momentum in the Americas and Europe, with gross margin also jumping by 60 basis points to 82.6 per cent.
The company also ended FY26 with 1,136 stores globally, up from 1,031 at FY25 end. This is below what some brokers were projecting, including UBS, which was predicting total stores of 1,152 by FY26 end.
Lovisa also reported a strong start to FY27, with total sales lifting 16.4 per cent in the first eight weeks of the new financial year compared to the same time last year.
Comparable store sales grew by 3 per cent, which is up from 2 per cent recorded for the full FY26 period. Lovisa reported improving momentum in August.
“We continue to focus on opportunities for expanding both our physical and digital store network, with structures in place to drive this growth in existing and new markets and formats, with a long new store runway supporting continued store rollout momentum,” the company reported.
“Our balance sheet remains strong with available cash and debt facilities supporting continued investment in growth.”
The company also reported that its net cash position by FY26 end was $46.7 million. The group closed the financial year with $40.3 million in net debt, an increase of $5.9 million on the prior year.
Lovisa did not share any update on Jewells in the United Kingdom, other than noting the trial is still ongoing, with seven stores accounted for by FY26 end.