Supreme PLC (AIM:SUP) shares rose in a cloud of vape smoke as it said it expects trading for the year to March 2024 to be “significantly ahead” of current forecasts as it won a “sizeable” contract to distribute disposable vapes to several major supermarkets.
The manufacturer and distributor of vaping equipment, batteries, lightbulbs and other household goods said it will be the master distributor of the ElfBar and Lost Mary, made by China’s iMiracle Technologies.
They will be supplied to chains including Tesco, Morrisons, One Stop and WHSmith Travel.
The AIM-listed company also reported results for the year to 31 March 2023, where profit before tax fell 11% to £14.4mln on revenue up 19% to £155.6mln. Adjusted earnings per share were down 8% to 11.8p.
It said half of the revenue growth was driven by vaping-related acquisitions, including Liberty Flights, Cuts Ice and Superdragon, which led to an “outstanding” performance from its vaping category as revenues nearly doubled to £76.1mln.
Group profits were down due to the "temporary setback" for the Lighting arm, where it reported progress after the customer over-stocking issue that hit the previous year.
Cash of £19.3mln was generated from operations in the period, up from £11.8mln the year before, resulting in an adjusted net cash position of £3.2mln at year end compared to net debt of £1.9mln a year earlier.
A final dividend of 2.2p per share results in a total dividend of 3p.
A year ago, Supreme issued a profit warning due to a slowdown in lighting sales, also slashing its dividend payout ratio from 50% to a minimum of 25%.
The shares rose 11% to 117.24p in early trading, up 19% in the year to date but down over 50% from the highs in early 2022.