Avon Products Inc on Tuesday said that it was replacing Andrea Jung as chief executive, a move that comes as the cosmetics company tries to recover from a myriad of problems, including a federal bribery probe and weak sales in key international markets.

Jung will remain as executive chairman of the company. A committee of the board of directors will work with Jung to find an external CEO candidate, Avon said in a statement.

Avon shares rose 5.4 percent on the news in after-hours trading.

We said after the company's third quarter release that we no longer had confidence in management's ability to set Avon on a stable course near term, Morningstar analyst Erin lash said.

Avon in October said that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating the company's contact during 2010 and 2011 with certain analysts and other representatives of the financial community.

The company also reported third-quarter earnings that fell below analyst expectations, with Brazil weighing on earnings as the result of implementation of a new computer system, while tough economic conditions also hurt sales in other markets.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman in Chicago, editing by Bernard Orr)

Marketing