Avon on Track To Reach Sales and Earnings Targets

Avon Products said today the company was on track to achieve its previously stated target for earnings-per-share growth in the low to mid teens for 2000 and that sales were continuing to track ahead of its mid single-digit growth target for the year.

“2000 is shaping up as a year of very solid performance in our worldwide direct selling business,” said Andrea Jung, Avon’s chief executive officer. “The significant investments we are making to strengthen the Avon brand are clearly starting to pay off.

Ms. Jung said Avon expects to invest an incremental $100 million in 2000 to fund its growth strategies, about $60 million of which should be spent in the second half of the year.

Commenting on the third quarter outlook, Ms. Jung said sales are expected to be 7-8% ahead of the prior year and earnings per share should be within the current range of analysts’ estimates.

“Internationally, our portfolio of operations is strong, with Latin America expected to show double-digit sales and profit increases, despite economic weakness in Argentina, one of our major markets. The Pacific region should also be up solidly from 1999, while Europe is expected to be down slightly from the exceptionally strong performance last year, in part due to weaker European currencies,” said Ms. Jung.