Avon Products Inc. (AVP) recently declared a quarterly dividend of 21 cents per share, which translates into an industry-leading yield of 2.4%. In late October, the company reported third-quarter earnings of 42 cents per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8%.

Rewarding Shareholders with Outstanding Income

The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of 21 cents per share, which translates into an industry-leading yield of 2.4%.

The dividend is payable December 1 to shareholders of record November 20.

Solid Earnings

In late October, the company reported third-quarter earnings of 42 cents per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8%. Revenue slipped 4% year-over-year but was up 7% on a local-currency basis.

Higher Forecasts and Strong Momentum

The company is seeing bullish earnings estimates on the strong quarter. The full-year Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.70 per share is up 4 cents over the past

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Avon Products Inc. (AVP) reported third-quarter results with earnings of 36 cents per share. Earnings were below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 39 cents and down 30.8% from 52 cents reported in the prior-year period. Total revenue declined 3.5% year over year to $2.6 billion, attributable to an 11% negative impact from foreign-currency exchange, which was partially offset by a 5% benefit from volume. The number of active representatives grew 10% during the quarter. Sales of Beauty products declined 3%, primarily due to the negative impact of foreign exchange and declines across three of the four categories. Skin Care declined 8%, Fragrance declined 4% and Personal Care declined 4%, these were partially offset by a 4% growth in color cosmetics. In North America, sales fell 8% as units sold declined 5% while active representatives were up 4%. In Latin America, sales grew 5% as units ...

There’s a fine line between personal care (your health and well being) and what could be considered personal pampering. That $100 luxury massage could be viewed as a much needed muscle relaxing exercise to help your back. And, if looks are important to your career, you might be able to write off that anti-aging skin cream as a business expense, even though there are some that cost $400 per ounce. The fact is that people will go to remarkable lengths to take care of themselves, even if what they are trying does more for their mind than for the rest of their body.

Beauty and youth are concepts that have always been closely tied to the personal care industry. With a market in the hundreds of billions of dollars, nobody doubts the demand; although the question of whether the market has

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First, a historical note…US equities have just come off their best July since 1989. Overall, the market is up over 8% for the year. But if we look backward (after all, hindsight is 20/20), March 1989 also saw a huge run up. It was followed by an even stronger rally in July, during which volume dried up. It appears the same is happening now. What came next in 1989 was a big sell-off in September, followed by an even greater one in October.

Don’t look now, but history tends to repeat itself.

Also, consider the fundamental picture. We have rallied 48% from the March lows on the back of what? Good earnings? Good employment figures? Good spending figures? Expanding GDP? No.

We have rallied based on one of the largest and most concerted propaganda campaigns ever waged, supported by government stimulus. But no government can stimulate forever. The bottom line is this, if

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Avon Products (AVP) reported second-quarter results with earnings of $0.38, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.32. However, quarterly earnings before restructuring costs were $0.19 per share, down 29.6% from $0.27 reported in the prior-year period.

Total revenue declined 9.7% year over year to $2.5 billion, attributable to a 15% negative impact from foreign-currency exchange, which was partially offset by a 2% benefit from volume. The number of active representatives grew 11% during the quarter.

Sales of Beauty products declined 10%, primarily due to the negative impact of foreign exchange and declines across all categories including Skin Care, Color Cosmetics, Fragrance and Personal Care.

In North America, sales fell 10% as units sold declined 6% while active representatives were up 4%. In Latin America, sales grew 3% as units sold rose 5% and active representatives grew 13%.

Revenue in the Western Europe, Middle East & Africa dropped 15%,

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Most companies like Avon (AVP), Campbell Soup (CPB), Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), H.J. Heinz (HNZ) and Procter & Gamble (PG) are depending on the developing markets of Asia/Pacific and China for growth.

In spite of the current economic meltdown, sales growth has been recorded across companies for this segment. For example, Avon's sales grew 9% in China while Procter & Gamble saw sales growth of 11% in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, soup companies such as Campbell Soup are also targeting markets, including China (Shanghai is the leading soup market in China with highest per capita soup consumption with almost 72% of the population consuming a bowl of soup everyday) for expansion. Also, in case of Heinz, Asia accounts for a big market, although sales in 2009 increased only 1.6%,

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Avon Products (AVP) presented at the CAGNY (Consumer Analysts Group of New York) today in Boca Raton. The company continues to execute its 4-Point Turnaround Plan first announced in November 2005. Under the pillars of 1) Commitment to Brand Competitiveness, 2) Win with Commercial Edge, 3) Elevate Organizational Effectiveness, and 4) Radically Transform the Cost Structure, the company had sparked growth in the Beauty and Fragrance categories, along with capturing $270 in annualized cost savings. Also, PLS (Product Line Simplification initiative) and SSI (Strategic Sourcing Initiative) have garnered cost savings of $40 million and $135 million, respectively.The Color category appears to be turning around, aided by the Mistake-Proof Mascara, Pro-To-Go, and Plumping Lipstick campaigns featuring Reese Witherspoon. Look for the new Fragrance Spotlight introduction in April featuring newly signed Courtney Cox.Management also announced a new restructuring program today, targeting $200 million in cost savings ...

 

Company Overview Avon is one of the United States’ oldest companies. Originally founded as the California Perfume Company in 1886, Avon has always been about marketing. On October 6, 1939, the wildly successful California Perfume,by then with over $4M in sales and more than 25,000 representatives, changed its name to Avon Products, Inc. People believe that the company was re-christened “Avon” for the whimsical reason that Suffern on the Ramapo, the New York State town in which the founder of the company lived, reminded him of Shakespeare’s Stratford-on-Avon1

Avon today calls itself “The Company for Women” and is one of the leading companies in the personal products industry. A global company with over $10 billion in annual revenue, it is the world’s largest direct marketer with 5.4M independent sales representatives. Currently, its product line includes not only beauty items but also jewelry and apparel. In addition,

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Avon Products, Inc.Â’s (AVP) CEO Andrea Jung has transformed the company over the last eight years. It has grown aggressively in the Beauty products category, especially overseas in developing markets.

The management instilled financial discipline in the company through the multi-year supply chain cost reduction program along with the Product Line Simplification (PLS) and Strategic Sourcing Initiatives (SSI). The companyÂ’s strong second-quarter results drove the stock to our price target; as a result, the rating has been lowered to a Hold.

While the mature core North American market has been weak, Avon has a large exposure to the economies in Latin America that are prone to hyperinflation and currency devaluations. Japan also continues to be challenging. Moreover, Higher advertising, restructuring, and incentive expenditures along with the aggressive share repurchase program are increasing AvonÂ’s debt position.

Avon Products stock has traded in a P/E range of 14 to 31 over the last

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