The Body Shop owner experiences “challenging” second quarter
Natura & Co, the owner of Avon, The Body Shop and Aesop, has posted an 8.6% decline in revenue in its second quarter after the group faced the pressure of a challenging trading environment.
In the three months to June, net revenue at The Body Shop fell by 25.3% despite store revenues being up compared to last year due to growth in footfall.
Sales were also down at Avon where there was a decline of 25.4%. The brand’s performance was mainly impacted by the war in Ukraine. low consumer confidence and eroding household purchasing power in Europe, as well as fewer representatives in Europe.
Meanwhile revenue at Aesop rose by 5.7% in the period after the brand delivered double digit growth in all markets led by North America and Asia-Pacific. It is continuing to roll out new stores in cities like Madrid and Cambridge as well as in existing markets such as Japan, South Korea, Canada and Australia.
Fabio Barbosa, group chief executive of Natura & Co, said: “Though we expect our businesses’ revenues to trend better in the second half of the year, we believe the challenges in the macro environment will persist and our margins will remain pressured in the short term. In this context, our clear and immediate priority is to focus on margins and operational cash-flow, and the teams at all our brands and businesses are mobilised and incentivised on those clear goals.”
