Brazil's Natura Q2 profit more than doubles, beats estimates

Brazilian cosmetics group Natura SA said on Wednesday its second-quarter net profit more than doubled from a year ago, slightly above market expectations, helped by solid sales growth in all segments as well as cost cuts.

In a securities filing on Wednesday, the company said its quarterly net income grew by 109.4% year-on-year to 66.6 million reais ($16.4 million) compared to a consensus estimate of 61.7 million reais compiled by Refinitiv.

“All our three brands (Natura, Aesop and The Body Shop) and businesses contributed to a good performance in the quarter,” the company said, adding it hopes to conclude the acquisition of Avon Products Inc. in the beginning of 2020.

Almost two years after acquiring The Body Shop brand from L’Oreal in a 1 billion-euro transaction, Natura struck in May a deal with Avon to create the world’s fourth-largest beauty company.

In the quarter ended June 30, Natura posted net revenue of 3.4 billion reais, up 9.8% from the second-quarter of 2018.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 27% to 424.7 million reais. Analysts on average expected an EBITDA of 374.37 million reais, according to Refinitiv data.

The company reported a net debt of 5.53 billion reais on June 30 compared to 5.71 billion reais a year earlier. As a result, its net debt/EBITDA ratio fell from 3.30 to 2.83 in the period.

Natura shares in Sao Paulo rose 43% this year.