THG boss Matthew Moulding said the past two years had been the hardest in the company’s history as the online beauty business reported signs it is recovering.
In a post on LinkedIn, Matthew Moulding said that running THG had been “brutal” over the past twenty-four months.
“At THG, it's felt like a F1 race, but on a track covered with thick fog, torrential rain, crashes, potholes, and cheating track marshals!”
Over that period, Moulding noted it had shed 3,000 staff, with the majority of the reduction due to a huge automation rollout.
“This means we now have miles more growth capacity as well as £125m pa of savings across our 2 biggest cost areas,” he added.
THG’s struggles have also had a brutal impact on the share price, which has dropped 30% from its already depressed levels over the period and was down another 6% today to 64p after its annual results, valuing the group at £900 million.
Sales fell 9% to £2 billion but losses halved to £252 million and Moulding said the business saw revenues grow in the final quarter of 2023 with this momentum continuing into the current year.
A possible bid for the business from private equity group Apollo fell through a year ago though shortly after Moulding gave up his right to veto any new approach.
Broker Jefferies said the results overall were in line with its forecasts with operating profits slightly ahead at £120 million.
“Perhaps most notably, the improved EBITDA [underlying profit], combined with a working capital inflow, asset disposals and lower capex, saw a £200m YoY swing in free cash generation towards breakeven."
'Buy' with a target price of 105p is the broker’s view.