Oriflame reports 2% dip in Q4 sales
Swedish company’s sales total €382.5m at end of 2009
The Swedish natural cosmetics group Oriflame has posted a 2% fall in sales for the fourth quarter of 2009 to total €382.5m. Meanwhile euro sales for last year dipped only slightly to €1.3bn while net profits for the full year fell from €133.1m to €101.7m.
The company says that sales growth for 2010 is expected to be around 10% in local currency terms with operating margins standing at above 12% at current exchange rates. It has been reported that Oriflame's fourth quarter 2009 local currency sales rose by 14% and the increase for the full year was 15%. The company also says that inventories were reduced considerably throughout 2009 and were below target by the end of last year.
Sales of skin care products were driven by launches of Oriflame’s Time Reversing Intense Cream and Tender Care Caramel products. Fragrances also performed well throughout the year and a new women's fragrance, Grace, was launched in fourth quarter promoted by supermodel Eva Herzigova.
More markets are expected to come under the control of the group’s Warsaw-based group distribution centre during 2010 as restructuring of Oriflame’s global distribution network continues. A new centre is also due to be set up in Hungary to serve countries in the region.
