Natura has high of 2% in 1st Qtr profit, but revenue falls

The cosmetics company Natura had weak growth of net profit in the first quarter, affected by higher expenditure on account of increased interest rate and revenue fall in Brazil.
The company had net profit of 119.6 million reais in the period from January to March, growth of 2.1 percent in comparison with the first quarter of 2014. The average of analysts by Reuters expected ears profit of 102 million reais.
The net profit was adversely affected by the increase of 13.4 percent of financial expenses due to the high interest rate of the country and by 17.7 million expense related to the acquisition of Australian Aesop. There was, on the other hand, earnings of 10.3 million reais with markup adjustments to the market of derivatives tied to foreign currency debt.
Natura's net revenue rose 5.5 percent in the period to 1.64 billion reais. There were 2.2 per cent drop in net revenues from Brazil, to 1.24 billion reais, and high of 39.6 percent of net revenue, international to 398.9 million reais.
Natura emphasized the consolidated revenue growth even in the face of a very challenging context in Brazil ", in their report of results. "Our priority is the resumption of sales growth in Brazil," the company said.
Among the measures adopted to boost sales in the country, the company cited a new credit policy for consultants, launching a line of products for the preteen audience and national expansion of Natura, which has 32 thousand sellers that meet over the Internet.
"In the coming months, complementing initiatives already deployed, increasing means of payment options for our consumers," the company said.
The cash generation as measured by Ebitda (stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $ 285.9 million reais, virtually stable compared to the previous year.
Excluding positive impacts of market and negative marking provisions for acquisition of Aesop, the profit would have grown 8.1 percent in the quarter, the company said.
For 2015, the company reiterated that will invest 385 million reais, a reduction in front of 505 million reals from 2014.