Ding-dong! Red ink calls for beauty giant

DOOR-to-door beauty firm Avon plunged to a £17m loss last year.

It suffered a blow amid dwindling demand for its make-up and skincare products, with sales falling to £4.4bn, which is 3pc lower than a year ago.

Avon’s heavy losses compare with a £15.6m profit in 2017.

Slowing demand for make-up in Latin America and a fall in the number of representatives flogging its face creams and lipsticks hurt sales.

Brazil is the largest market for Avon, which was launched 132 years ago, overtaking the US in 2010.

Chief executive Jan Zijderveld, said it was taking steps to become profitable again.

He said: ‘This is a large task that involves the efforts of every employee and representative. It will take time but introducing training programmes that empower women to become trusted advisers to their customers helps to improve earnings, and thereby success.’