Beauty Giant Natura Defies Skeptics in Surprise Margin Gain
- Firm’s adjusted Ebitda margin rose to 13.3% in fourth quarter
- Higher input costs have been offset by faster Avon synergies
An employee assists a customer viewing makeup on display at a Natura store inside the Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Photographer: Dado Galdieri/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Brazil’s Natura &Co delivered an unexpected margin expansion in the fourth quarter, dealing a blow to skeptics who question whether the cosmetics maker can become a global beauty powerhouse.
The firm, which acquired Avon Products Inc. less than three years ago and is also the owner of the Natura, Body Shop and Aesop brands, saw its adjusted Ebitda margin rise by 90 basis points from a year earlier to 13.3%, the Sao Paulo-based company said Wednesday in a statement. Analysts were expecting a 180 basis-point drop.