Coty continued to navigate a challenging market in the first quarter, although CEO Markus Strobel said the group’s turnaround strategy is showing early signs of progress.

For the three months ended September 30, the group’s net revenue declined 1 per cent to $1.56 billion, while net income increased from $64.6 million a year earlier to $106.2 million. However, adjusted EBITDA  (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) fell 7 per cent from $296.1 million to $274.2 million

“While our progress in the first quarter is encouraging, we have more work to do to translate green shoots into a broad-based recovery,” Strobel said.

Prestige, which accounted for 68 per cent of total revenue, posted a 1 per cent decline in both reported and like-for-like sales to $1.06 billion. Consumer beauty revenue fell 2 per cent on a reported basis and 3 per cent on a like-for-like basis to $496.8 million.

Coty focused investment over the past year on its six core Prestige brands: Hugo Boss, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Chloé, and Kylie Cosmetics, which represented 73 per cent of Prestige sales in the quarter.

The company said those brands returned to 5 per cent like-for-like growth in the first quarter after declining 6 per cent in the first half of FY26.

Looking ahead, Coty expects like-for-like revenue to decline by a low-single-digit percentage in the second quarter, broadly in line with the previous two quarters.

“We expect the recovery to be uneven, and implementation will take time,” Strobel added.

“We know confidence is earned through consistent delivery, and our goal is to steadily improve execution and translate it into shareholder value in the years ahead.”

• Further reading: Why Coty’s transition year is really a battle for relevance.