Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Shares in Kering rose more than 15 per cent on Tuesday as the Gucci-owner stemmed a slide in sales as new chief executive Luca de Meo leads a restructuring.

Revenues at the Paris-listed luxury group fell 3 per cent on a comparable basis in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, to €3.91bn, a smaller fall than analysts had expected.

Sales had fallen 5 per cent on a comparable basis in the third quarter.

Shares rose 16 per cent in early trading on Tuesday, sparking a broader rally in the European luxury goods sector. Hermes rose 2.7 per cent and LVMH gained 1.3 per cent.

Revenues at Gucci, Kering’s largest brand by sales and profits, fell 10 per cent in the period to €1.62bn, slightly ahead of a consensus forecast of a 12 per cent decline from a year earlier.

The owner of Saint Laurent and Balenciaga proposed cutting its dividend to €4 per share — including a €1 special dividend linked to a beauty deal — down from €6 a year earlier, amid ongoing weak financial performance. 

“The performance in 2025 does not reflect the group’s true potential. In the second half, we took decisive actions — strengthening the balance sheet, tightening costs, and making strategic choices that lay the foundations for our next chapter,” said de Meo, who joined from carmaker Renault in September with a mandate to turn around the business after years of underperforming the sector.

He promised “a leaner, faster Kering, enhancing brand positioning and sales, rebuilding margins, and strengthening cash generation” in 2026. 

“We are already seeing some signs that Gucci is rebounding from its lowest point,” de Meo told analysts on Tuesday.

Kering’s shares have fallen 57 per cent over the past three years as management and creative changes, large-scale retail expansion, a stalled turnaround at Gucci and mounting debt following high-priced acquisitions worried investors. Shares have risen since the appointment of de Meo, who took over from François-Henri Pinault whose family controls the group and who remains as chair. 

De Meo has already made changes, including selling the group’s nascent beauty division to L’Oréal for €4bn and postponing by two years an agreement to buy the rest of Valentino. Kering at present has a 30 per cent stake in the Italian fashion brand. De Meo is expected to lay out his full strategic plan at a capital markets day in April. 

The smaller than expected revenue fall in the final quarter was not enough to offset Kering’s weakness in earlier quarters. Operating income for the year fell 33 per cent to €1.6bn, in line with expectations, the second consecutive year that group profits have fallen by a double-digit percentage. 

Group revenues for the year were down 10 per cent to €14.67bn, also in line with Visible Alpha consensus. However, net debt totalled €8bn by the end of the year, down €2.5bn on the end of 2024.

Kering’s turnaround attempts are taking place in a depressed global market for luxury goods, though signals from some rivals have raised hopes that the worst of the slowdown may have passed. The group said its objective for 2026 was “to return to growth and improve margins this year” despite the tough economic environment.

“Kering has a relatively successful track record turning around several key brands over the past two decades . . . That said, execution of luxury brand turnarounds has become more complex, lengthy, costly,” wrote Thomas Chauvet, analyst at Citi.

Kering noted that while fourth-quarter sales in ​​western Europe and North America were in line with trends in the previous quarter, they improved in all other regions, while the debut collection from Gucci’s newest designer appeared to be gaining popularity.

The group’s smaller brands showed some improvement from previous quarters. Sales at Saint Laurent were flat in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago, but Bottega Veneta and other brands including Balenciaga grew by single digits.

The search for Nancy Guthrie continues after she disappeared from her home in Tucson, Ariz. two weekends ago, and imposter kidnappers have swarmed.

Law enforcement has said they’ve received several ransom notes from people claiming to have the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie. Savannah and her siblings, Annie and Camron, have been posting videos to social media pleading for Nancy Guthrie, 84, to be returned home, and have asked for proof of life before any ransom is paid.

“We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” Savannah Guthrie said in one video and asking for proof that her mother was still alive.

As artificial intelligence becomes more advanced and commonplace, it can be difficult to know what’s real and what’s not, which has complicated the search for Nancy Guthrie, according to law enforcement. But just how difficult is it?

AI can ‘make up just about anything’

Before the days of artificial intelligence, proof of life could be easily established by having a hostage take a picture holding a newspaper of the day, or talking on the phone, said Joseph Lestrange, who worked in law enforcement for 32 years and now trains law enforcement agencies on identifying artificially generated content.

Now, someone can ask a language learning model to mimic someone’s voice or likeness in photos, videos and audio, known as “deepfakes.” The models can also devise fake documents, like passports, Lestrange said.

“You give it the right prompts, it can pretty much make up just about anything,” Lestrange said.

At federal agencies, digital evidence is usually sent to digital forensics labs. Examiners there can judge the authenticity of a piece of evidence using clues such as its location data or pixels. The tools they use are “very effective,” Lestrange said, but it takes time for them to draw conclusions.

“Time is usually of the essence in these kidnapping cases, especially in the current case we’re talking about, where the poor woman has some health problems,” he said. “So these investigators are really in a challenging situation at this point.”

Local and state agencies also may not have access to the same kind of tools, while scams are becoming more complex, and fast, Lestrange said.

Lestrange said some agencies are more willing than others to embrace how artificial intelligence is used. This can start to be corrected if emerging AI companies collaborate with law enforcement to “develop products that make sense,” so law enforcement isn’t “just relying on the vendors to tell them what they need,” he said.

How to protect yourself from AI scams and deepfakes

Although artificially generated content and deepfakes rely on digital tools, human interference and judgement is still a good way to tell if something is off, said Eman El-Sheikh, the associate vice president of the University of West Florida Center for Cybersecurity.

“First, calm down and slow down, because a lot of times scammers will try to create a fake sense of urgency in order to get their way before the other people can figure out that this is a fake,” she said.

While on the call, you can say something that you know your loved one is likely to respond to in a certain way. Or you can hang up and call your loved one directly to verify the issue, El-Sheikh said.

People who use social media should avoid publishing sensitive information, such as passwords, addresses and phone numbers, she said. It’s also important to keep details regarding your home private, such as when you’re leaving the house, or that you live alone.

Also, make sure to review the privacy settings on your apps, and toggle the permissions according to your comfort level, she said.

“It’s very important for everybody in the digital world to be very intentional about what information they say online, and about protecting their privacy.”

But Lestrange notes that anything you post or share about yourself online can be used against you, even if you’re careful.

“It’s really a very different world today,” he said.