Natura & Co is said to be considering selling The Body Shop, after disappointing results and a share price in freefall. Rising inflation is having a negative impact on sales of premium personal care products.
Slimming down
The Brazilian cosmetics, which also owns Avon and Aesop, is in dire straits: in the first half of the year, turnover fell by 10 %, and share prices even plummeted by 70 % last year. The Body Shop in particular is having a hard time: its turnover fell by 24 %, partly due to an exit from Russia.
Fabio Barbosa, Natura’s CEO since June, has announced a thorough reorganisation: the group has to slim down and is considering its options. A sale of one or more chains is not unlikely, British newspaper Mail on Sunday has learnt from several observers. A sale of the entire group to an investment fund could also be an option. The group fears that the current cost of living crisis will continue to weigh on sales of luxury care products.
No comment
The company did not want to comment on the specifics of the claims: “We don’t comment on market speculation, but in difficult conditions we are redesigning our structure and reviewing ways to be lighter and leaner”, a spokesperson said.
The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by environmental and animal rights activist Anita Roddick, and passed into the hands of L’Oréal thirty years later That sale that was met with much criticism from fans of the sustainable brand at the time, and the company reconnected with its activist past after its takeover by Natura in 2017. The retailer has some 3,000 shops worldwide.
