Avon Remains Upbeat

Avon Products Co., New York, NY, citing better-than-expected performance at its international regions, expects first-quarter earnings of 41 cents a share-a penny above the company’s prior guidance and an analysts’ consensus estimate provided by Thomson First Call.

In a statement released today, the beauty products company also forecast a first- quarter sales increase of 11% to 12% in local currency terms, or 6% to 7% in U.S. dollars, driven by “double-digit gains in units” and the number of active representatives.

Company officials could not be reached to elaborate further. In the year-ago first quarter, the company earned 40 cents a share, on sales of $1.37 billion.

“Europe again is delivering stellar results, with dollar-denominated sales and operating profit forecast to increase in the range of 35% and 50%, respectively” Chairman and Chief Executive Andrea Jung said in the release.

“Latin America is looking to generate strong double-digit gains in local currency sales and operating profit, however, after currency translation, dollar sales should be down about 10% and operating profit up slightly,” the chairman said. “Asia is having a very strong quarter and is on track to post dollar- denominated gains of 15-20% in sales and nearly 50% in operating profit,” Ms. Jung said.