Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
WW International, owner of the WeightWatchers dieting business, has said chief executive Sima Sistani is stepping down with immediate effect as the group struggles with the growing popularity of anti-obesity drugs.
The announcement on Friday of the departure of Sistani — who will be replaced on an interim basis by board member Tara Comonte — sent shares in the Nasdaq-listed company down 2.7 per cent in early trading.
WeightWatchers has struggled against competition from new “GLP-1” weight loss drugs such as Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy. Last month, shares fell sharply after it downgraded its sales outlook and announced a major restructuring.
Comonte, a former president of Shake Shack, said WeightWatchers was a “strong, globally recognised business” with a competitive leadership advantage.
“I am confident that we have the right team in place and are focused on the right strategies to drive growth while staying true to our mission to empower members to live healthier, longer lives,” she said.
WW International’s shares have lost 97 per cent of their value since mid-2021.
Thilo Semmelbauer, chair of the company’s board, thanked Sistani for her leadership and her “unwavering commitment” to WeightWatchers’ mission.
Sistani led efforts by WeightWatchers to transform the business, traditionally focused on in-person weight-loss clubs, into a telebusiness. Under her leadership, the company bought Sequence, now known as WeightWatchers Clinic. The acquisition allowed the company to start dispensing GLP-1s drugs, while continuing to administer its behavioural change programme.
However intense competition from other telehealth businesses that offer compounded GLP-1s — versions of the drugs made according to pharmacies’ own recipes — has meant that WeightWatchers has lagged behind.
The company has long said it will not offer compounded GLP-1s. But, amid a shortage, Sistani recently said she would no longer rule it out.
Shares in WeightWatchers slumped in August after it cut its full-year sales target from a range of between $830mn and $860mn, to “at least” $770mn and announced it was streamlining the business to combat a “rapidly changing landscape”.
“In order to win in this dynamic GLP-1 environment, we are completely reimagining how we operate to catalyse our path as the leading digital weight health provider,” Sistani said following the announcement.
Alongside the announcement of Sistani’s departure, the company said it was reaffirming its guidance for full-year earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation and a series of other figures.
Read the full article here
