Natura &Co Holding S.A. (NYSE:NTCO) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

We don’t break down what those savings are, Irma, but they are basically admin-related savings. So it really impacted the margin in this Q2. And of course, as we mentioned before, as the operational deleverage goes away, right, because you see that basically in constant currency, Avon International was almost flat this quarter, minus 1%, right? And as we continue to work on the stabilization of the top-line there and as the operational deleverage goes away, and of course, these one-offs, these phases of expenses, they also stabilize more as we’re expecting to see that in H2, you should expect to see higher margins for Avon International going forward. So this is it. I’m not sure if I missed anything, but I think that I got both of your questions.

Irma Sgarz: Great. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Ruben Couto with Santander. Please go ahead.

Ruben Couto: Good morning, guys. On Natura &Co LatAm, since the first quarter, you have been talking about that we could see some profitability volatility between quarters to higher investments in marketing, and I think Fabio just repeated that. But it’s going to happen already in this quarter? I mean, our marketing expenses did show a sequential increase on a year-over-year basis. So just wanted to understand if we should see more of this increased spend in marketing, or was this mostly done already in the second quarter? Overall, what should we expect in terms of SG&A expenses in Natura &Co LatAm for the second half of the year? That would be helpful. Thank you.

Joao Paulo Ferreira: Hi, Ruben. JP here. Yes, you should see us investing more behind our brands and behind innovation going forward. So that’s one. I mean we expect to gain efficiency in many other lines, but we do want to strengthen both Natura and Avon going forward. We are pretty confident on a very strong innovation pipeline, soon to hit the market as well as new positionings for both brands. And that comes in a very good moment as we implement [indiscernible] across most countries, especially in Brazil. So yes, expect to see further investments behind our brands.

Ruben Couto: Great. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Thiago Macruz with Itau BBA. Please go ahead.

Thiago Macruz: Hi, guys. Good morning. You mentioned that you were able to repurchase roughly 90% of Avon bonds due 2043. And other than the restrictive covenants that you’re going to fix from now onwards, what other benefits do you expect as a consequence of this transaction? Does this unlock any sort of tax management opportunities? This is my question. Thank you very much.

Guilherme Castellan: Hey, Macruz, thank you for the question. Look, you’re right. Let’s take one step back, right. Basically, if you look at the liability management strategy that the company has adopted in the last couple of years, basically, you will see that this is the odd man out there, right, is the only legacy bond that we have from Avon, right, the other outstanding one was the ’27 that we repaid last year. And basically, the covenants and the characteristics that we have in this bond, they are completely different than the last bonds that we have issued, both sustainability-linked bonds and the ’29 last year, right? So there’s a — those bonds, they have basically, they’re almost investment-grade like while the ’43s, there were legacy bonds that again had some covenants, which, by the way, as repaying those covenants not only allow us to eliminate some reporting obligations, as you mentioned, but other — simplifies a little bit our structure as well, which is something that we’re pursuing, right?