Avon Products Inc. has reported a 2% decrease in total revenue to $2.5bn in the second quarter of 2013, or up 2% in constant dollars, an improvement on analysts’ expectations. However, Avon’s beauty business saw sales decline 4%, in comparison with a 2% rise for the company’s fashion and home segment. The numbers of active representatives and total units sold, meanwhile, were relatively unchanged compared with last year’s quarter.
Avon’s strongest region was Latin America, buoyed in particular by a 12% revenue hike in Mexico, driven by an increase in active representatives.
Commenting on the results, Avon CEO Sheri McCoy said: “There is still significant work to be done to deliver sustainable performance in the near and longer term, but I am pleased with progress to date.”
However, the company also announced that it expected to be hard hit following the US Department of Justice and Exchange Commission’s rejection of its $12m offer – made in June – to settle a probe into whether employees had engaged in bribery overseas to develop new markets. Avon said: “It is probable that we will incur a loss upon settlement that is higher than the offer and it is reasonably possible that such additional loss will be material.”