Natura's profit falls in quarter

Natura ended the first quarter with net profit of $ 124.8 million, 17.6% lower than the R $ 151.5 million recorded a year earlier. The fall was greater than that estimated by the average of the projections of the J.P. Morgan banks, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, which pointed backwards-6%, to $ 142 million.
The net sales advanced 5.9% from January to March, to $ 1.35 billion, but was below the company's expectations. Natura reported in the note accompanying the balance sheet, which in addition to a more competitive market, your promotional strategy proved little attractive to boost sales in the run-up to the Carnival, causing an uneven growth in the quarter.
In the Conference call on the results, the Vice President for finance, investor relations and legal Nature, Roberto Pedote, stated that to broaden the range of products purchased by customers in the coming months, the company launched the program "Natura I like", which created 20 different profiles. From that mapping, consultants will be able to make the most appropriate approaches to each profile. With this, the expectation is to raise sales by consumer in volume and diversity.
In 2012, the company lost 1.5 percentage point to participate in hygiene, according to data from Euromonitor, in comparison with the previous year. The reaction to competition will come in the second quarter when Pedote, are planned releases in the prices "quite competitive, to act on price ranges where we are not present".
The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) fell 3.7% in the first three months of the year, to R $ million country. The Ebitda margin fell 1.9 percentage point, to 19.4%, as sales fall short made the dilution of expenditure more difficult, especially in long-term projects.