Shares in THG PLC (LSE:THG) fell 6% in early trading on Tuesday despite a recovery for its nutrition business in the first quarter.
The owner of MyProtein published results for 2024, having confirmed headline numbers not long ago, with underlying profits down 17% to £92.1 million from its continuing businesses, having recently agreed to sell its Ingenuity digital logistics arm.
Within the mix, margins for the Beauty business were ahead of expectations, with the corollary being that those for the Nutrition arm were dragged down by a rebranding process, movements in whey prices and the Japanese yen, all of which had been previously flagged.
In the first quarter of 2025, group continuing revenue was down 6.1% on a constant currency basis at £371.4 million, with like-for-like revenues sliding 3%.
A return to growth was seen in THG Nutrition, with sales inching up 0.1%, to support full year guidance, the company said. Nutrition delivered growth in both February and March.
CEO Matthew Moulding said 2024 was "a big year of change and evolution for THG" and said the Ingenuity was "the highlight".
Moulding, who last week turned down a bid for the nutrition business that was more than the entire group's market cap, added: "Following extensive efficiency drives, incorporating both automation and AI, THG has become a much leaner, fitter group that has shown strong resilience in the face of record whey commodity pricing that placed temporary pressure on Nutrition margins."
"Extensive" changes to the business model at both arms over the past 24 months were also highlighted by Moulding, with Beauty focused on more profitable markets and building loyalty schemes, while Myprotein rebranding was designed to underpin growth across "global offline retail and licensing".
For the full year and beyond, he said the group is "well positioned to return to sustainable growth and cash generation, whilst developing market share".
The shares fell to 26.52p, close to their all-time low.