- THG’s revenue shrank by 3.1% at constant currency rates to £1.9bn last year
- The e-commerce retailer said it was a ‘transitional year’ for the nutrition arm
THG has posted lower annual sales following ‘well-documented challenges’ affecting its nutrition business in Asia.
The e-commerce retailer behind supplement producer MyProtein revealed its revenue shrank by 3.1 per cent at constant currency rates to £1.9billion last year.
Sales of nutrition brands declined by 8.7 per cent to £579.6million, with the company blaming adverse currency fluctuations for contributing to difficult trading conditions across Asia.
THG Nutrition also faced a 50 per cent jump in the price of whey over the last six months, according to broker Peel Hunt, which downgraded its forecasts for the division on Thursday.
Manchester-based THG said it was a ‘transitional year’ for the nutrition division, which was undertaking greater discounting activity to clear old stock amid the rebranding of MyProtein.
It observed ‘improving underlying trends’ within the segment during the second half of 2024, especially in Britain, where licensing and retail partnerships are bolstering offline sales growth.
THG said: ‘The UK had a stronger performance during Q4 (vs Q3), although well-documented challenges in the Asia market relating to FX movements continued to weigh on trading performance in the region.’
Results: E-commerce retailer THG, home to skincare brand ESPA, has posted lower annual sales following ‘well-documented challenges’ affecting its nutrition business in Asia
Overall nutrition-related revenues still slumped by 9.5 per cent to £145.2million in the three months ending December.
By comparison, THG’s beauty arm, home to skincare brands ESPA and Dermstore, saw turnover increase by 0.8 per cent to £348.4million, thanks to orders of fragrance products soaring by nearly a third over the peak trading period.
Combined with cosmetics label Lookfantastic enjoying higher average order values, the division’s full-year sales expanded by 4.6 per cent to £1.1billion.
Meanwhile, THG’s loss-making Ingenuity platform achieved a 16.4 per cent jump in revenues before being spun off at the beginning of January.
THG decided to take the technology business private to help strengthen its finances and focus on selling beauty and nutrition goods.
Its chief executive and co-founder, Matt Moulding, remains the largest shareholder in Ingenuity, whose problems he has attributed to high interest rates and the London Stock Exchange’s shrinking capital pools.
Burnley-born Moulding, who started the company in 2004 with John Gallemore, told investors on Thursday that he was ‘impressed by the group’s agility and resilience during a year of significant change’.
He added that THG had reaped ‘several notable successes,’ including expanding its partnership with supermarket chain Iceland and collaborating with Müller to make new high-protein yoghurts and desserts.
THG has struggled since going public in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when harsh trading curbs on stores led to a global online shopping boom.
Massive losses, slowing e-commerce, and corporate governance issues have caused THG shares to plunge more than 90 per cent from their initial public offering price of 500p.
The firm’s share price was 3.8 per cent down at 38p on late Thursday afternoon.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘There are no guarantees, but if the company can start growing its revenue sustainably, then it may in time be judged on its own merits and not on the unrealistic yardsticks in place at the time of its IPO.’
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