Avon Reports Q4 2014

Avon Products, Inc. reported total revenue of $2.3 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, a decrease of 12%. The revenue for the full year was down 11%. Beauty sales declined 14%, but increased 5% in constant dollars.

"While progress against our financial goals in 2014 was slower than I would have liked, I am pleased with the sequential improvements we made in several key markets and categories in the second half of the year," said Sheri McCoy, CEO, Avon Products, Inc. "We have stronger management teams across our key markets and better discipline in executing consistently against Avon's core processes. Going into 2015, we intend to build on that momentum. However, based on strengthening of the U.S. dollar, we expect the impact of foreign currency on our reported results to be significant. We are working to mitigate as much of the impact as possible. Avon has weathered emerging market cycles in the past and I'm confident we will do so again."

Adjusted gross margin was 40 basis points lower than the prior-year quarter, primarily due to the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange driven by Europe, Middle East & Africa and Latin America, and higher supply chain costs, primarily from high-inflation countries. This was partially offset by the favorable net impact of mix and pricing, primarily due to inflationary pricing in Latin America.

The full report is available from Avon.

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