Ayelet Sarfati Rosen, joint CEO of Icon Group, announced yesterday her retirement from the position after a period of 9 years. Icon Group is the exclusive distributor of Apple and Lenovo products in Israel, and the owner of the iDigital chain of stores.
Last March, the company suffered a substantial blow after KSP, a substantial customer of the company, began importing Apple products on its own after receiving approval from the technology giant. Icon stated at the time that the company is not dependent on the customer but suffered a substantial drop in sales and its stock has since begun a continuous downward trend and has been cut by about 60%, and the company is traded at a value of NIS 346 million on the stock exchange.
At the same time as the loss of KSP, Icon completed the merger of Visual and as of the third quarter of this year, Icon estimates that the scope of the merged activity with Visual will compensate for the loss of income from KSP. Meanwhile, the company concluded the third quarter of 2022 with a 3% decrease in revenue to NIS 307 million, and this in the shadow of the global shortage of iPhones and a decrease in demand for computers after the corona virus. The operating profit fell by 31% to NIS 14 million, the gross profit rate was maintained thanks to the strengthening of the dollar to which the company is exposed, and on the bottom line, Icon concluded the third quarter with a 54% decrease in profit for the period to NIS 6.5 million.
Sharfati Rosen took up her position at Icon Group in 2013, after about 15 years in various management positions at the Asem-Nestle group. She will step down from her position in a few months, after a replacement is found for her and after an orderly process of transferring the position. “After 9 years full of action, interest and tremendous satisfaction, the decision to retire from my position and continue with new challenges in my private life has matured in me,” said Sharfati Rosen. “These were very intense years with many changes in the market that did not prevent the group from continuing to grow and develop and even establish its place as a leader in its field.”