RE: The Times18 Sep 2024 07:08
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Moulding — who in January likened his life as an entrepreneur to participating in Squid Game, the South Korean dystopian survival thriller series — has long been a vocal critic of the London market and has said he regretted listing THG.
Kelso Group, an activist investor in THG, has repeatedly argued that splitting up its three divisions could help to lift its share price to 225p and achieve a market valuation of about £3 billion.
John Goold, chief executive of Kelso, said THG had “strategically done the right thing. I think someone will now come in and bid for the company as the valuation is nonsense.”
Any proposed demerger would require shareholder approval, the company said, adding that further information on its proposal to spin off the Ingenuity business would be provided to shareholders in due course.
The company said: “No certainty can be provided on a demerger timescale whilst we consider the options to achieve this outcome. However, structuring tax clearances have now been approved by HMRC”, the UK tax authority. Sky News first reported the plan on Monday.
Alongside the demerger announcement, THG posted its interim results for the half-year ended June 30. The company said it expected adjusted ebitda (earnings before deductions) to be towards the lower end of the analyst consensus range, which it put at £133.8 million to £156.5 million, following a decline in revenue in its nutrition arm.
That was despite pre-tax losses narrowing to £118 million in the half-year to June 30, from £133 million the year before. Group revenue rose 2.2 per cent to £911 million.
Revenue in its Ingenuity division rose 12.6 per cent to £80.2 million, while beauty rose 5.7 per cent to £531 million. However, its nutrition arm fell 10.9 per cent to £299.9 million.
THG said that growth in its Beauty and Ingenuity divisions was offset by a reduction in THG Nutrition online revenue. This was driven by “stock rotation and higher than anticipated promotional activity linked to rebranding, continuing foreign exchange headwinds from Asian currencies, volatility in commodity pricing and the consumer environment remaining uncertain in specific territories”.
Andrew Wade, an analyst at Jefferies, said with first-half ebitda only marginally higher than last year, his prevailing £150 million estimate “now looks stretching enough”, leading him to cut his forecasts to £131 million.
Can a simplified THG win back investors?
Since THG’s high-profile initial public offering in 2020, the company’s shares have experienced a dramatic decline, losing much of their initial value as investor confidence waned.
Initially hailed for its ambitious tech platform, Ingenuity, which promised to revolutionise ecommerce for other brands, the company has struggled to meet these expectations. Investors quickly realised that Ingenuity’s growth and profitability were more elusive that THG had projected.
The company, which lis