Avon To Seek CEO As Jung Will Serve Only As Chairman

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Avon Products Inc. (AVP) said it will separate the roles of chairman and chief executive and search for a new chief as Andrea Jung switches to serving solely as chairman.

Shares were up 5.6% at $17.05 in after-hours trading. Through the close, the stock has declined 44% so far in 2011.

Jung, who has been the CEO of the door-to-door beauty products company since 1999, will continue to handle both jobs as the board undertakes an external search for her successor as chief. She will also work with the new CEO to assist in the transition.

She said that the company has transformed during her tenure as chief into its global operating model from a group of decentralized local operating entities. Like many U.S. companies, Avon has driven recent growth through its global extension, as demand overseas compensates for softness in North America.

However, in its latest quarterly results, Avon's earnings slipped 1.5% on weak sales in both Brazil and the U.S., its two biggest markets.

Avon is also in the process of assessing its long-range business plan and targeting an operational and financial update at an investor meeting set for early next year. It previously has undergone rounds of restructuring and cut thousands of jobs.

Tuesday, Jung said she believed the time was right to separate the chairman and CEO roles as the company addresses its "growing scale and opportunities."

-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291; [e-mail]