STOCK WATCH: CEO Selldown Sends Stock Sliding

On Friday, Cettire Founder and CEO Dean Mintz confirmed he sold a $60 million stake in the company, amounting to around 41 million shares at $1.46 a share, or 10.8% of issued capital. In August this year, Mintz issued a statement that he had ‘no current intention’ to sell shares in the company when shares were released from escrow.

A quarter of the 251,238,220 escrowed Cettire shares were released in February 2022, and by late March, Mintz had sold down 35 million shares in the company (representing 9.18% of the Company’s issued capital), pocketing over $47 million. The market did not respond well to the announcement, with the Cettire share price plunging at the time.

That he waited until November this time shows some level restraint, I guess. Whether he had no current intention to sell shares when they came out of escrow on 30 August, or whether he had no intention to sell shares currently is a matter of interpretation / linguistic acrobatics, I suppose (for the record, the latter seems more likely). Closing at $1.34, the Cettire share price is down 23.4% over seven days, making it the worst performer on the ASX Listed E-Com Index in that period.

Source: ASX Listed E-Com Index based on ASX reporting for the period

Adore Beauty announced last week that Tamalin Morton will be taking the reins as CEO, starting on 9 January. She brings to the role more than 20 years retail leadership with CEO, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer roles at Priceline, Kathmandu, Spotlight Retail Group, and most recently Best Friends Pets and My Pet Warehouse.

“Tamalin’s extensive industry experience will be instrumental in fast-tracking our growth, and delivering on our strategic initiatives to increase revenue, customers, and margins over the short and longer term. She brings relevant category experience and a proven track record of driving growth within omni-channel, high-growth entrepreneurial businesses,” said Chair, Marina Go. “Tamalin’s customer-centric approach and focus on team culture aligns with Adore Beauty’s values. The Board is particularly excited by Tamalin’s ability to scale businesses quickly. Importantly, Tamalin’s marketing credentials will be invaluable as the industry continues to navigate higher customer acquisition costs.”

“Adore Beauty is at an exciting juncture in its growth trajectory with two owned brands now successfully launched, and the structural shift to e-commerce well underway. In addition to the business’ clear growth strategy, I see additional opportunities for Adore Beauty to capitalise on its market-leading position to increase basket size, order frequency, and profitability,” Morton said of her appointment.

The news failed to lift the Adore Beauty share price. It’s now down 1.1% over seven days.

Meanwhile, Temple & Webster shares have made an impressive recovery after tanking to $4.36 earlier in November. Closing $5.19 yesterday, the company is up 10.4% over the last week, making it the best performer on the ASX Listed E-Com Index. How the tables have turned. (Because they sell tables…..get it? I’ll see myself out.)

Kogan’s eerily stable streak has come to an end, dropping to $3.42 yesterday, and down 2.6% over the last week.

Bike Exchange is down 5.6% in the last week, to $0.017. Its capital raising seems to be doing little to comfort investors. Closing at $0.57, Redbubble is down 13%. The company has been particularly rocky in recent times, and while it looked like it was on an upwards trajectory last Stock Watch, it was short-lived.

Booktopia opened at $0.205, marking 0% over the last seven days. It’s assumed that when it announces the appointment of its new CEO, we’ll start to see some uplift in share price. Although, based on Adore Beauty’s luck-lustre announcement, maybe not?

Figures are current as at close of ASX on 22 November 2022. This is analysis only and not intended as investment advice.

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