Shares in Warpaint London fell 14% to 192.5p after the make-up maker behind W7 and Technic served up a rougher first half than shoppers, apparently, are giving its lipsticks.
Revenue for the six months to June dropped 17.8% to £40.5 million, as softer consumer spending and cautious retailer ordering did their damage.
That knocked adjusted EBITDA down 36.4% to £6.8 million, with pre-tax profit off 33.2% to £4.9 million.
Not all the news was bad, mind.
Gross margin actually improved, up 230 basis points to 47.3%, helped by better sourcing, new product launches and a handy one-off gain from Barry M stock picked up at a discount.
Cash generation was a genuine bright spot too, with operating cash flow up 81% to £7.4 million and £20.7 million sitting in the bank.
The company remains debt-free, and management still found room to lift the interim dividend 6.3% to 4.25p.
Trading has since perked up.
Third-quarter sales are expected to rise around 5% to £28.5 million, with Christmas gifting activity and fresh shelf space at Rossmann, Tesco, Superdrug and Walmart doing the heavy lifting.
Even so, the board has trimmed its ambitions for the year, now expecting revenue towards the lower end of the £103.3 million to £112.6 million range analysts had pencilled in.
Adjusted EBITDA, at least, is still tracking within the £22.4 million to £24 million forecast range, a small mercy for investors nursing today's share price hit.
