Revolution Beauty Group PLC has reported its delayed annual results to February 2022 as the troubled cosmetics group continues to deal with the fall out of accounting issues under its previous management.
The company reported revenue of £184.6mln in the period, up 35% from £136.7mln, driven by the strength of the brand and multi-channel offer, both in-store and online but despite this the firm fell further into the red.
The pre-tax loss of £44.9mln widened from £17.8mln due to an increase in the stock provision of £11.3mln and especially high freight costs due to pandemic-related global freight issues of around £3.1mln.
The figures also reflect the impact of impairment of goodwill arising from the purchase of Medichem (£13mln) and exceptional IPO costs (£8.9mln), as well as depreciation and amortisation.
Derek Zissman, non-executive chairman of Revolution Beauty, said: “Whilst these results are significantly below that forecast by the previous management team to the market, they nevertheless reflect a robust business.”
“We now expect Revolution Beauty to return to normalised trading and to capitalise on its position as a business with outstanding products, talented colleagues, and a loyal customer base."
The delayed results followed a probe into the company’s finances which showed sales had been overstated for the purpose of meeting sales targets.
Revolution Beauty said four errors have been identified in the prior year numbers and have been corrected in the comparison. These relate to rebates, capital support payments, debt instruments and borrowings.
But the company said the banks remain supportive and the business is currently trading with positive adjusted EBITDA, and generating cash.
The company expects to report its interim results for the period ended 31 August 2022 within the next two weeks.
Bob Holt OBE, chief executive officer, said: “We are confident as we look ahead and will provide a current trading update alongside the interims to the 31 August 2022.”
“The current year FY24 has started positively with sales, adj. EBITDA and cash tracking ahead of management’s forecasts.”
Shares in the firm remain suspended.