Published
Nov 24, 2021
Reading time
3 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Revolution Beauty growth continues, sees expansion opportunities globally

Published
Nov 24, 2021

Revolution Beauty only listed on the stock exchange in the summer and its first set of results as a public company released on Wednesday showed that its pre-IPO strong performance is continuing.


Revolution Beauty



It’s still loss-making but revenue is heading in the right direction and it’s set to expand further in the US with a launch into 2,800 as-yet-unnamed retail stores in Q4. The US is already its largest market, accounting for 26% of sales.

The first-half results for the period to August 31 were about “strong progress successfully executing against the strategy outlined at IPO” and “further profitable growth”, it said. Group revenue rose 39% to £78.6 million, “providing a platform for growth ahead of seasonal peak trading”.

The performance was driven by international Store Group growth across a number of categories with North America Store Groups up 102%, UK Store Groups ahead by 78% and ROW Store Groups up 56% “as stores rebounded from Covid-19-related trading restrictions”.

It also saw a strong performance across Revolution Beauty brands, including Makeup Revolution that was up 53% against the first half of last year — although that was perhaps unsurprising given that many companies have said the make-up category globally was weak in the pandemic period last year.

The gross margin increased a little to 47.9% from 47.7%, “primarily driven by underlying product margins and customer mix”. That was despite the increased cost pressures on freight, “which have successfully been offset in H1”.

The company had a good year digitally in 2020 as the pandemic force consumers online, but its digital advance continued this year and sales on this front were even up 53% compared to two years ago.

What that all meant for profitability was that adjusted EBITDA increased by around 39%, compared with the first half of last year, at £5.1 million.

But as mentioned, the firm remains loss-making for now with its net loss widening to £15.2 million from £6 million a year earlier.

Overall during the half, the company said it made “significant progress in creating a globally balanced business; building international presence online and in-store”. 

And the growth seems to be continuing. So far in Q3, it has seen a “strong Halloween and a promising start to the Christmas trading period with a good uptake of the Revolution Beauty advent calendars and festive products. We believe this acceleration will now continue into the fourth quarter”.

And on Wednesday it announced the launch of Makeup Revolution with a “major new US customer” starting, as mentioned earlier, with a rollout into 2,800 of its mass-market US retail stores in Q4. It also plans the launch of Revolution Haircare in 870 Target stores in the US early next year.

In the UK, further category expansion and enhanced in-store distribution is also due in Q4, with its planned rollout of Makeup Revolution across 350 Boots stores.

Digitally, it’s still progressing too. Its digital channels have seen an acceleration in the third quarter and further digital expansion will continue in the fourth quarter with the launch of Revolution Beauty products by Next, Fashion Nova, River Island and Forever 21.

In the first half, its own evolutionbeauty.com customers increased by over 200,000 and the webstore performed “particularly well” in the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Zalando is now within its top three digital partners “demonstrating an excellent consumer fit for the Revolution Beauty brand and its categories”.

Additionally, it’s “one of the fastest growing brands on TikTok and now [has] a global social media following of over 6.8 million”.

Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.