Since its public itemizing on Euronext in 2015, Nicola Perin has served as CFO of Italian mass-market clothes retailer OVS. Beforehand, he was CFO of the conglomerate Grupo COIN, from which OVS was carved out. OVS operates manufacturers together with OVS, Upim, Golden-point, Stefanel, CROFF, and Les Copains, managing a community of two,600 shops in Italy and overseas.
World Finance: Over your 10 years guiding OVS’ funds, what are you most pleased with doing?
Nicola Perin: What makes me proudest, although not as a result of it’s the most tough process, is that I’ve at all times stored the machine working easily. For a CFO, whether or not in a listed or personal firm, nothing is extra basic than a dependable administrative system: one which produces correct data, helps obligatory disclosures, and provides administration the arrogance to make sound selections. With out that basis, another achievement—regardless of how formidable—would have been far much less sure.
Among the many outcomes I worth most, one stands out. In 2014, our CEO, Stefano Beraldo, and I made a decision to spin off OVS-Upim from the Coin Group to arrange it for itemizing. It proved to be an especially profitable operation, offering OVS with the monetary sources wanted for a brand new section of development: increasing our community, rising volumes, and strengthening our model portfolio. It laid the monetary and managerial groundwork for the numerous enlargement that adopted.
GF: And extra just lately?
Perin: We now have at all times paid shut consideration to sustainability. Attire retail is taken into account the second most polluting business after vitality, and though we’re far smaller than world teams like Inditex, H&M, or Hole, we’ve at all times taken these points very critically.
Our dedication has usually positioned us among the many leaders, if not at all times on the very prime, and it has additionally created tangible monetary worth. In 2022, I proposed and led the issuance of Italy’s first sustainability-linked bond [SLB]. It was a big milestone; it secured extremely enticing financing at a set 2.25% and strengthened our market profile. On the time—between 2022 and 2024—sustainability was a dominant theme, and restricted provide meant robust demand from traders trying so as to add green-labeled merchandise to their portfolios. We deliberate to lift €120 million; we raised €160 million.
GF: Is sustainability nonetheless vital, given the present political local weather?
Perin: Traits apart, the subsequent time we subject a bond—each time that could be—I’ll nonetheless intention to spotlight the corporate’s sustainability progress. Curiosity is probably not as robust because it was a couple of years in the past, however I imagine a sustainability-linked bond stays the best alternative for OVS, as a result of it makes our dedication clear.
An SLB requires us to outline clear ESG targets and bear third-party verification halfway by means of the bond’s life. If we’re not on observe, the price of the bond will increase. For instance, the coupon would rise from 2.25% to 2.45%. In different phrases, the price of financing is straight linked to how successfully we ship on our enchancment path.
GF: How deeply are you incorporating AI within the finance operate?
Perin: In administrative processes, we rely extra on robotics than on AI. By robotics, I imply software program that automates repetitive duties that colleagues as soon as dealt with step-by-step. There’s some digital intelligence concerned, but it surely’s primarily course of automation. A easy instance is the DURC test in Italy—verifying that suppliers are updated on their social safety, insurance coverage, and building fund contributions—which we now execute by means of robotic processes.
In administration management and financing, nevertheless, AI is turning into more and more helpful. It helps us write clearer, sooner commentary and carry out extra detailed analyses; work that might take an individual eight hours may be multiplied with AI.
However the actual frontier for us is in predictive gross sales. For OVS, Stefanel, Goldenpoint, and all our manufacturers, AI has been supporting forecasting for years. Everyone knows that coats promote earlier in Bolzano than in Palermo, however AI goes a lot additional; it tells us what number of to ship, which sizes, how early to maneuver from cotton to wool blends, and what gadgets to substitute when inventory runs out. It takes easy, intuitive patterns and transforms them into tons of of 1000’s of variables, permitting us to make way more exact selections.
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