SAO PAULO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Brazilian cosmetics maker Natura &Co has reported a 28.5% drop in quarterly net income to 272.9 million reais ($50.45 million) while also announcing a new share buyback program and potential plans to list its shares in New York.
Natura group CEO Roberto Marques said it was tough to compare the results with the same period of 2020, when the firm grew by more than 20%, but noted it has still outperformed the industry on a year-to-date basis and versus pre-pandemic levels.
The company, which owns brands like Avon, The Body Shop and Aesop, said late on Thursday its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) reached 819 million reais in the third quarter - a drop of 47% from a year ago.
It reported an EBITDA margin of 8.6%, down 620 basis points year-on-year.
Natura is launching a new share buyback program of up to 1.5 billion reais and evaluating switching its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange to reflect its increasingly global nature.
On the buyback plan, Marques told Reuters that the company sees it as a good opportunity to create value for its shareholders.
He praised the Avon brand for reaching its first growth in sales during a nine-month period in 2021, after falling for five years in a row.
Marques said Natura's quarterly results were affected by global supply chain disruptions, inflation and foreign exchange depreciation in several markets, estimating an impact of about 5 percentage points on EBITDA margin.
According to Marques, Natura has had a hard time raising prices as key markets deal with these issues.
"Some of our markets are facing high unemployment levels, and the ability to raise prices gets compromised... It is a complex equation," Marques said.