(Reuters) – British e-commerce firm THG said on Wednesday its revenue continued to improve in 2024 after returning to growth in the last quarter of 2023, thanks to demand for beauty products.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
After a bumper $7 billion London initial public offering in 2020, THG has issued multiple profit warnings that have weighed heavily on its shares and led to several takeover approaches, all of which have been rejected.
Inflationary and cost-of-living pressures over the last year had also led to revenue declines at the firm.
CONTEXT
THG has undertaken restructuring as part of a strategic review of its loss-making operations last year, leading it to sell its entertainment products division THG OnDemand and discontinue some small brands within its beauty and nutrition divisions.
BY THE NUMBERS
THG, which owns online brands Lookfantastic and Myprotein, reported a smaller operating loss of 185.4 million pounds ($235 million) for the year ended Dec. 31, compared to 495.6 million pounds a year earlier.
Total revenue for the year fell 8.7% to 2.05 billion pounds.
Q4 revenue grew 1.1%, it said, without providing the exact figure.
KEY QUOTES
“Our fulfilment network is becoming increasingly optimised through a combination of robotics automation, AI and the onboarding of new Ingenuity clients utilising existing capacity,” said CEO and founder Matthew Moulding.
“The return to Group revenue growth in Q4 was especially pleasing, and this momentum has continued into 2024,” Moulding added.
WHAT’S NEXT
THG plans to issue a Q1 2024 trading update by the end of April.
($1 = 0.7888 pounds)
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
