Body Shop International shares are set for a rough ride this morning after it warned its full year profit before tax and exceptionals will be some 10 to 15 per cent lower than last year.
The warning comes just three months after the group - which has 12 retail outlets in the Republic - said it expected to deliver "a significantly improved profit for the full year".
Last year the group made a pre-tax profit of £31.5 million sterling (euro 49.7 million).
Chief executive Mr Patrick Gournay said: "Whilst overall retail sales have shown positive growth our expectations for our new product programme to drive this performance to a higher level during the second half were not met."
He blamed a disappointing Christmas period in the UK and Ireland, where like-for-like sales fell 2 per cent in the nine weeks to December 24th, lower-than-expected wholesale sales to Europe and Asia and a £3 million hit from an adverse sterling/euro exchange rate.
But Mr Gournay pointed to a 5 per cent rise in the group's world total sales in the Christmas trading period and a 2 per cent increase on a like-for-like basis.
"Growth was good across our three international regions, including the US despite a softening of the retail climate in the pre-Christmas trading period," he said.
The UK and Ireland achieved 3 per cent growth in total retail sales. But transport problems and weather difficulties led to the fall on a like-for-like basis, the group said.
The Christmas trading period accounts for 70 per cent of the group's annual profit.
AFP