Helen of Troy Appoints Brian Grass as CFO

According to an announcement of Helen of Troy via a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday, Brian Grass, who initially assumed the role of CFO on an interim basis in April, has been appointed as the permanent CFO, effective September 23.

Brian Grass, aged 53, previously held the position of CFO at the company from 2014 to 2022 and served as assistant CFO from 2006 to 2014. Prior to his tenure at Helen of Troy, he spent seven years working in public accounting at the renowned firm KPMG. In his new role as CFO, Grass will also retain the responsibilities of principal financial officer and principal accounting officer, which he assumed upon his return to the company in the spring.

Noel Geoffroy, the current chief operating officer of Helen of Troy, who is set to succeed CEO Julien Mininberg upon his retirement in February, expressed her confidence in Grass’s appointment. She mentioned that after conducting a nationwide search for candidates, Grass emerged as the ideal person for the position. Geoffroy described Grass as a “strategic business leader, a collaborative thought partner, and a proven public company CFO.”

In terms of Grass’s compensation, it will include an annual base salary of $600,000. He will also be eligible for an annual cash performance bonus, targeting 85% of his salary, as well as a long-term incentive award under the company’s stock incentive plan with a target value of $1.6 million. This incentive will consist of a combination of performance-based and time-vested equity awards, as detailed in the filing.

Helen of Troy is headquartered in El Paso, Texas, and is known for owning direct-to-consumer brands like Hydro Flask and Drybar. The announcement comes in the context of the company reporting a 10.7% decline in net income for the fiscal second quarter ending on August 31, dropping from $30.6 million in the previous year to $27.4 million. Despite this, CEO Julien Mininberg reiterated that the company’s full fiscal year outlook remains on track. Helen of Troy has been implementing restructuring initiatives, including workforce reductions of approximately 10% under Project Pegasus, as reported by Retail Dive.

Have you read?
Revealed: The Biggest Beer Companies in the World, 2023.
Ranked: Most Popular Dog Breeds in the U.S. of 2023.
Revealed: Countries With the Highest Suicide Rates, 2023.
Ranked: These Are The Most Dangerous Jobs in the World, 2023.
America’s Best Investment Advisory Firms, 2023.