Monica Tatoiu, Oriflame: Direct selling of cosmetics will rise 20%

Oriflame Romania, the local subsidiary of the Swedish cosmetics producer says the company's first-quarter results were in line with the entire market, without revealing its financial data, but expects an over 10% rise for the cosmetics market in 2009, whilst almost all sectors are already recording declines. "Oriflame's progression does not reflect the economy's progression at all, although December was the most difficult time because people were scared. We are seeing a rise, we were even No. 1 in the region. Direct selling of cosmetics will see a 20% rise this year, while that of retail will be of under 10%," Monica Tatoiu, managing director of Oriflame Romania, told ZF. Oriflame posted 112.6 million RON (33.3 million euros) in turnover last year, 15% more than in 2007, when its turnover reached 106.5 million RON (32.2 million euros). Tatoiu says that, although the value of orders went down, the number of products sold and of orders placed rose significantly, and that the "rise in the number of clients by a lot more than the average of the previous four years, makes up for the loss in terms of value."