Brazil’s Natura & Co Reports 292% Increase In Q4 Net Profit

Brazil's Natura & Co Reports 292% Increase In Q4 Net Profit

(Reuters) – Brazilian cosmetics maker Natura & Co reported on Wednesday a 292% increase in fourth-quarter net income, pushed by structural changes and faster-than-expected synergy capture with Avon.

The company reported a 695.4 million reais ($138.74 million)net profit, beating a Refinitiv forecast of 161 million reais.

The company, which owns brands like Avon, The Body Shop and Aesop, reported quarterly net revenue of 11.6 billion reais, a 3% drop in comparison with the previous year, but in line with a Refinitiv forecast of 11.5 billion reais.

Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin reached 13.3%, up 90 basis points from the same quarter last year.

The company said synergies from its purchase of Avon, bought in 2019, have accelerated faster than the expected, “with about 50% of target already achieved at the end year, helping Natura & Co to offset raw material inflation and negative effects of the exchange rate,” it said.

($1 = 5.0123 reais)

(Reporting by Carolina Pulice and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Richard Pullin)