Prada appoints new chief business development officer

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Prada said it had appointed Roberto Massardi as the luxury group's chief business development officer at a time when the fashion group looks to expand its business after the hit on the sector by the coronavirus pandemic.

Massardi, who is already in his new role and reports directly to the company's chief executives, will be responsible for assessing new business opportunities, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

He had worked for Prada in the past and was the director general of Stone Island, a brand recently acquired by the Moncler group.

Prada has emerged strongly from the pandemic, thanks to a desire among cooped-up consumers to pamper themselves with high-end purchases, and in March the family-owned group confirmed its medium term growth targets.

($1 = 0.9126 euros)

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti; editing by Agnieszka Flak)