Shares of Manchester-based consumer brands giant THG plc rose as much as 5% after it said its group continuing revenue rose 4.5% to £455.4 million in the first quarter to March 31 amid a “standout performance” from its THG Beauty division where revenue grew 11.1% to £267.6 million.

THG CEO Matthew Moulding said: “Following the group’s return to revenue growth in Q4 2023, it’s pleasing to report an acceleration in Q1, which is testament to the hard work and dedication of our people, who’ve remained focused on the task in hand despite the tough macro-economic backdrop.

“It’s also clear that the accelerated infrastructure investments made during 2019-2022, specifically into our fulfilment network and tech capabilities, are playing a significant part in delivering competitive advantage.

“With this major capex program behind us, these investments will continue delivering meaningful savings, which accelerate further as new Ingenuity partners are onboarded.

“The Q1 performance of our largest business THG Beauty, is especially encouraging.

“The operating model changes made throughout 2023, including focusing on more profitable territories and customers, temporarily impacted growth for much of last year, however, since Q4, we are seeing tangible benefits from these actions.

“This is reflected in THG Beauty’s loyalty membership reaching 2.3m people at the end of Q1, less than two years after launch.

 “Beauty delivered double digit growth in the quarter, with a high-quality, loyal customer base bringing greater profitability per order across a more efficient cost base.   

 “Ingenuity, having pivoted towards larger, multi-service partners, is now also seeing the benefits of its own model changes. Another quarter of solid external revenue growth at +5.9%, is underpinned by monthly recurring revenue growth of +26.3%.

 “The response to the Myprotein elevation rebrand has been fantastic.

“While these changes naturally impact short term revenues as old and new branded products are swapped out, the strong positive response from online consumers and offline retail partners alike underpins confidence once full product availability is restored.”