Revolution Beauty names new CEO as FY losses narrow

Revolution Beauty has reported that its pre-tax losses have narrowed to £33.9m for the year ended 28 February 2023, as it also revealed the appointment of a new CEO.

This marked a 12% decrease in losses compared with the £45.9m loss it posted in the same period last year.

Over the period, the company’s revenues grew 3.2% to £187.8m, up from £184.6m in FY22, which the group attributed to the reopening of physical stores. Revolution saw its store revenues increase by 8.1% while its online sales dropped by 12.1%.

Meanwhile, the company’s gross profit saw a 4.9% increase, from £71m up to £75.9m. However, adjusted EBITDA widened from a loss of £0.8m down to a loss of £7.5m.

The company stated that this was due to increased marketing expenses and higher staffing costs due primarily to increased headcount.

Revolution’s current expectation for FY24 is high single digit growth in revenue, and an adjusted EBITDA in the high single digit millions.

This news comes after the company announced the appointment of Lauren Brindley as its new CEO.

Brindley was most recently the group vice president for beauty and personal care at Walgreens and will begin her role on 18 September 2023.

Alongside this, Colin Henry and Chris Fry have been appointed independent non-executive directors.

Alistair McGeorge, executive chairman, said: “This solid group trading performance has been achieved during a period of well-publicised upheaval for the business. To that end, I would like to thank my predecessor Derek Zissman, Bob Holt and Elizabeth Lake for their efforts over the past twelve months.

“Firstly in maintaining the commercial performance of the Group while also overseeing the implementation of new internal protocols and the lifting of the suspension of the Group’s shares which are traded on AIM.”

He added: “While I have only been with Revolution Beauty for a short period, it is clear to me that the business has the right attributes in place. The expertise of colleagues, combined with the relevance, affordability and strength of the Revolution brand gives me confidence that we can achieve continued growth across our core markets.

“While there is still a lot of work to be done, I look forward to supporting our new CEO, to build on recent momentum within the business, and achieve long-term sustainable growth within what is a large and attractive beauty market.”