THG Annual Report 2017 – record breaking year for sales, investment and international growth
RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017.
The Hut Group (“THG” or the “Group”), one of the world’s largest online beauty and wellbeing businesses, today announces its results for the year ended 31 December 2017.
Financial Highlights
- Group sales up 47% to £736m (2016: £501m)
- International Sales up 62% to £512m (2016: £317m), constituting 70% of Group sales
- Gross Profit increased by 51% to £318m (2016: £211m)
- EBITDA1 up 38% to £69m
- Strong growth in brand revenues, with 58% of Group sales coming from own brands
- Group sales CAGR of 49% and EBITDA CAGR of 52% for the period 2015-2017
- In May 2018, the Group increased its banking facility to £600m, for use in significant strategic initiatives and further potential M&A
Operational Highlights
- £164m in strategic acquisitions during the year, enhancing the Group’s end-to-end retail ecosystem, building its brand proposition, and developing the geographical reach of its beauty supply chain. Acquisitions included Hangar Seven and UK2 – a digital content agency and web-hosting business respectively – ESPA, Illamasqua, RY.com.au and Europe’s largest subscription beauty box supplier, GLOSSYBOX
- £39m of capex was spent on physical infrastructure projects including manufacturing, distribution, supply chain and office facilities. This included two food production and distribution facilities which became fully operational in 2017 – a 1m sq. ft. Cheshire based facility (Omega) and a US facility in Kentucky – in addition to the commissioning of a production and logistics centre in Poland, bringing next-day delivery to continental Europe
- £25m of investment in the Group’s proprietary technology platform, THG Ingenuity, further enhancing its functionality and globalisation capability. THG’s platform now operates on 35 languages and 42 currencies, is supported by 32 payment options and delivers to 193 territories
- Work begun on a new c870,000sq. ft. Head Office at Manchester Airport. The work will be completed in stages over the next two years and will ultimately house around 10,000 employees
Talent Highlights
THG invested heavily in talent during the year, creating 1,884 jobs and growing its global workforce to over 4,000 colleagues by year end. The Group also invested in its Talent Function, including internal communications, leadership academies and office infrastructure. Through its in-house leadership development platform, THG Academy, the Group is building the next generation of business leaders.THG now employs colleagues representing 66 nationalities and working in offices located in 10 cities around the globe, in the UK, USA, Europe and Australia. The average age of a THG employee is 29. THG expects to create a further 2,000 new jobs in 2018.
Matthew Moulding, Chief Executive Officer of The Hut Group, commented:
“2017 was a year of significant development and growth for The Hut Group, as we invested in our infrastructure, our technology platform, our people and our brands. THG is now firmly a global player and it is particularly pleasing to see over 70% of Group sales coming from overseas, and 58% of total sales being of our own brands.
“During the year our acquisitions of Hangar Seven and UK2 saw us develop further our propriety technology platform, THG Ingenuity, and investments in key brands such as ESPA, Illamasqua and GLOSSYBOX further extended our leading beauty offer. In addition, our job creation continued apace and we welcomed over 1,800 colleagues to The Hut Group around the world.
“With our growing, talented workforce, our leading brands and our cutting-edge technology and infrastructure, we look forward to a further year of growth in 2018.”
THG was also awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise this year in the International Trade Category.
Notes to Editors: 1Adjusted EBITDA is operating profit before depreciation, amortisation, share based payments and exceptional items