Shiseido combines China and Travel Retail businesses in restructure; Philippe Lesné to retire from role

In changes effective from 31 March, Shiseido Travel Retail President and CEO Philippe Lesné is retiring from his role with Toshinobu Umetsu taking on the role of Corporate Executive Officer, China & CEO Travel Retail Region.

Mar 28, 2025 - 11:19

Shiseido combines China and Travel Retail businesses in restructure; Philippe Lesné to retire from role

**Philippe Lesné: A strong, decade-long track record leading Shiseido Travel Retail**

Japanese beauty house Shiseido has announced a restructure that combines its China and Travel Retail business segments into one reporting line, effective from 31 March.

Under the changes, long-serving and much-respected Shiseido Travel Retail President and CEO Philippe Lesné is retiring from his role.

Toshinobu Umetsu, who is currently Corporate Executive Officer and CEO China Region, takes on the new role of Corporate Executive Officer, China & CEO Travel Retail Region. The move was initially flagged in a recent investors’ call.

A company statement said: “Under the new operating structure, we will further reinforce our brand foundation by taking a cohesive approach to Chinese consumers while accelerating synergies in the business both with respect to growth and cost efficiency.

“This will allow us to respond to volatile market conditions with agility and to maximise consumer-centric value creation, driving a shift towards high-quality growth to ensure profitability over the long-term.”

Philippe Lesné joined Shiseido in 2009 after a 15-year career with LVMH. He initially took the role of Managing Director, Shiseido Travel Retail Asia Pacific, before taking up his current role in April 2015. Since then he has been a key figure in ensuring travel retail played a prominent role in Shiseido’s drive to become a global personal beauty and wellness powerhouse.

The changes will also result in a new reportable segment in Shiseido’s financials and will be reflected in consolidated financial results from Q1 in the current fiscal year.

Further changes to financial reporting to ensure a “better grasp on profitability” will also be made at group level in how intersegment sales and cost of sales, head office expenses and brand holder expenses are recognised.

Shiseido revealed retrospective adjustments to its consolidated performance for the year ended 31 December 2024 in light of its restructure and other segment reporting changes (see chart below).

**Retrospective adjustments to Shiseido consolidated performance by segment for FY2024; figures in billions of Yen; click to enlarge**

As reported, Shiseido’s travel retail sales fell -23.8% year-on-year (like-for-like, 18.6% reported) in 2024 to ¥107,834 million (US$708.5 million) with a reduced -9% like-for-like decline in Q4 amid deeply challenging circumstances in the key Hainan and Korean channels.