Manchester online retailer The Hut Group has heralded a “landmark year” after reporting a 24% increase in group sales to £916m for the year to December 31st 2018.
The beauty and wellbeing firm posted a 31% boost in EBITDA to £91m, with international sales making up 66% of its overall sales during the period. During 2018, the retailer invested £180m in its technology, infrastructure and beauty brand portfolio, spurred on by increasing its banking facility to £795m.
Gross profit during the year increased by 31% to £417m (2017: £318m) and 1,500 jobs were created, largely in the North West, taking the total worldwide workforce to more than 5,000.
Matthew Moulding, founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Hut Group, said: “This has been another landmark year for THG. Our strategic investments to develop our technology, infrastructure, brands and people, have delivered exceptional global growth with 66% of our sales achieved internationally.
“THG’s investments during 2018 have been followed by further investments to date in 2019, resulting in over £850m ($1.1bn) of investment across Beauty, Technology and Infrastructure since 2016 and the vote on Brexit.
“This scale of investment propels THG’s proposition across global markets, deepening our strategic advantage and enabling us to digitalise brands at scale.”
“The acquisition of Language Connect brings another step change in the evolution of our proprietary technology platform, THG Ingenuity, and supports our continued international growth. Our Beauty division delivered a standout performance in the year, driven by growth across the global, especially Asia and the US.
“The acquisitions of Eyeko, Ameliorate and Acheson & Acheson are excellent additions to our leading brands portfolio and the latter will drive innovative product development.”
Over 20% of THG’s share capital has been awarded to employees since the Group was founded, including 6% during 2018. During the year, employees shared almost £21m of proceeds through share buybacks.
