THG posts record revenue in first half
Health and beauty group THG has said it made substantial first half progress after it achieved record revenues of £1.1 billion and made market share gains in the beauty and nutrition categories.
However, the group posted a widened operating loss of £89 million in the six months to 30 June, which THG blamed on the challenging macro-economic environment, underlying cost price inflation, and commodity and foreign exchange headwinds.
THG said beauty delivered the strongest growth in the period at 20% year-on-year to £553 million. This meant the category’s sales accounted for 51% of group sales.
Matthew Moulding, chief executive of THG, said: “I’m proud to report the group achieved record H1 revenues of £1.1 billion, delivering 12.3% growth against a challenging global backdrop, alongside a strong prior year performance during lockdown.
“Our highly engaged, global customer base, with high repeat rates, is a key asset of the business. Recently achieving 10 million app downloads from launch in early 2020, further strengthens the group’s relationship with consumers and our first party data advantage.”
He added: “Against the tough macro-economic backdrop, we have prioritised our loyal customer base, over maximising near term gross margins focusing on retention and growth of consumers. The strength, resilience and agility of our vertically-integrated business model, coupled with automation, has enabled us to significantly invest in price protection for consumers currently facing unprecedented cost-of-living challenges.”
