Swedish direct sales cosmetics company Oriflame has reported a 10 percent rise in local currency sales for Q1 2016 ending March 31, while operating profit was at Euro 21.1 million compared to 23 million last year.

Euro sales didn’t fare so well with a year on year downturn of 1 percent while the number of active consultants working for the company fell 9 percent to 3 million.

CEO Magnus Brännström said, “We are pleased with the overall local sales development during the first quarter, where sequential improvements are seen in most geographies. Asia & Turkey and Latin America continued to record double digit growth and increased profitability. While the reversal of the previous negative sales trend in the CIS is promising, the situation remains uncertain with sustained external and margin improvement challenges.”

The company has stated that year to date sales development is approximately 13 percent in local currency while development in second quarter to date is approximately 17 percent in local currency.

Brännström continued, “The positive sales momentum for the group has continued into the second quarter, further enhanced by some strong catalogues in April. The underlying business and financial performance is encouraging, although we continue to be heavily impacted by persistent currency headwinds and deteriorating macro across many of our regions. Efficiency initiatives are ongoing and are delivering desired results.”