Manchester-based beauty and nutrition giant The Hut Group (THG) said on Tuesday it now expects full-year 2021 revenue growth to be between 30% and 35% ahead of 2020 — up from previous guidance of 20% to 25% growth.
The change in guidance came “following the strong momentum with which THG has finished 2020, along with the expected contribution from Dermstore.com.”
In a trading update for its fourth quarter ended December 2020, THG said it delivered Q4 2020 group revenue of £558.7 million, versus £370 million in Q4 2019.
THG agreed in December to acquire Dermstore.com from US retailer Target Corporation and also acquire two of its long-standing UK-based nutrition product suppliers, Claremont Ingredients Limited and David Berryman Limited.
The Hut Group went public at £5 per share in September. Its shares rose another 2% on Tuesday to around £8 to give the company a stock market value of around £7.7 billion.
THG’s stock market value is comfortably above the threshold required to trigger massive incentive payments to a number of executives including founder and chief executive Matthew Moulding.
The Hut Group, which employs more than 7,000 people, runs websites including lookfantastic.com, myprotein.com, espaskincare.com and coggles.com that sell beauty and nutrition products.
CEO Moulding said: “I am pleased to report another strong performance through Q4 2020, during what has been a transformational year for THG.
“Due to the focus and dedication of our rapidly growing global workforce we have delivered some significant milestones in 2020.
“Following our successful listing on the London Stock Exchange in September 2020, we have accelerated our sales growth across all areas of the group, underpinned by record new customer numbers.
“We have also started reinvesting capital raised at IPO, including over £360m in M&A, principally within the US beauty sector.
“Furthermore, we have also invested significantly in our people, creating 3,000 new jobs during 2020, largely within the U.K, but also across our international operations.
“During 2020, we have made significant progress in commercialising our Ingenuity Platform, fast becoming a major global player in taking brands direct to consumers.
“Each of these milestones further underpin THG’s strategic growth pillars outlined at IPO, giving management significant confidence when looking ahead to 2021 and beyond, and driving the increase in our guidance for the year ahead.
“I would like to thank all our dedicated colleagues who have risen to the challenge to deliver such a strong performance in difficult and unprecedented global circumstances.”