Revolution Beauty Group PLC on Friday said ‘growth is being delivered’ as it hit out at boohoo Group PLC’s latest recommendation for its board.
Revolution Beauty said trading has been ‘excellent’ in the first three months of the financial year ending February 28, with sales up 60% year-on-year, and gross margins improving to 48.2% from 41.7%.
At constant currency, it has swung to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of £3.5 million, from a loss of £7.4 million a year prior.
‘This performance demonstrates the quality of Revolution Beauty’s products and consumer offer, and its ability to deliver growing sales into an expanding global retailer base,’ the company said.
In recent days, online fast fashion retailer boohoo, which holds just under a 27% stake in Revolution, has eyed replacing the company’s board. Revolution Beauty, labelling the attempt as ‘self-serving’ and ‘opportunistic’, said the timing was also wrong as it is on the ‘cusp’ of its shares being re-admitted to trading.
‘boohoo’s stated rationale for the proposed changes to the Revolution Beauty board is that the focus of the group must switch to growth. The company hopes that shareholders are reassured that the current board is similarly minded and that growth is being delivered without one shareholder taking control of the board at the expense of the interests of other shareholders,’ Revolution Beauty said.
Among boohoo’s latest proposed additions was Rachel Horsefield, former chief executive of THG PLC’s Beauty arm, a company Revolution Beauty ‘has recently undertaken to cease commercial relationships’ with.
‘The board of Revolution Beauty believes that boohoo’s announcement yesterday vindicates its view,’ Revolution Beauty explained, affirming that members of its own board are better-placed to drive than company forward than those boohoo recommends.
boohoo had earlier proposed the appointments of Alistair McGeorge and Neil Catto to Revolution Beauty’s board, the former as executive chair and the latter as finance chief.
McGeorge, a boohoo non-executive director, is the current non-executive chair of tonic waters and mixers producer East Imperial PLC.
Catto is currently a non-executive director at indie games publisher tinyBuild Inc, and was previously chief financial officer of boohoo between 2011 and 2022.
Trading in Revolution Beauty has been suspended since September 1 after it failed to deliver its first audit by August 31. The company floated in July 2021.
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