Companies and Brands

Worst Company of 2015: Avon

Several large companies are in the midst of turnarounds. Some, like Radio Shack, did not make it. The most badly flawed of these efforts, among America’s large companies, is the one of Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP). Its attempt to morph itself in a better public corporation has started its third year, along with the third anniversary of the appointment of Sheri McCoy as chief executive officer.

McCoy became CEO in April 2012. Admittedly, she took over from Andrea Jung, who spent years driving Avon into the ground. But a promise is a promise. According to Morningstar, Avon’s revenue in 2012 was $10.7 billion. On that, the loss from continuing operations was $38 million. Last year, revenue was $8.9 billion. The net loss from continuing operations was $385 million. McCoy has crippled Avon more as each year of her tenure has passed.

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Avon’s shares have dropped another 3.6% so far this year, against an increase in the S&P 500 of 2.1%. The fact the stock continues to fall is unimaginable. Over the past two years, Avon shares have dropped 54.5%, against an S&P rally of 36.3%. Avon management has been silent after another dismal forecast for 2015. Reporting poor results for 2014, Avon management said:

In 2015, the Company expects to continue to make progress against its strategic objectives. Constant-dollar revenue is expected to be up modestly; however, assuming January foreign currency spot rates, reported revenue is expected to decline due to an estimated 12 point negative impact from foreign currency translation. The Company also expects foreign currency transaction costs and translation adjustments to have a significant negative impact on Adjusted operating profit. The Company expects Constant-dollar Adjusted operating margin to be up modestly as it plans to offset most of the foreign currency transaction impact with price increases and further actions to reduce costs. However, due to foreign currency translation, the Company expects that Adjusted operating margin could be down as much as 1 point in reported dollars.

The potential impact from a pending tax law change on cosmetics in Brazil, called Industrial Production Tax (IPI), has not been factored into the Company’s outlook at this time. The Company is presently assessing ways to mitigate the potential impact.

It is the lack if any statement since that forecast that shows Avon has not found a way to do slightly better. Any signal would give investors modest hope.

McCoy has stopped making public comments about Avon’s bright future. She has been unable to rescue the door-to-door marketing structure of Avon, and that is at the core of any success.

Wall Street has abandon Avon’s stock at a rate that indicates investors have capitulated more in 2015.

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