Revolution Beauty Group PLC on Thursday said its loss narrowed and revenue improved slightly during its latest financial year, and it has hired a former Walgreens Boots executive to takeover as CEO.

The stock was down 17% at 28.35 pence in London on Thursday. It is down 49% over the past 12 months.

The London-based cosmetics retailer said Laura Brindley will join as chief executive officer on September 18, with Bob Holt leaving Revolution Beauty immediately.

Brindley most recently was group vice president for beauty & personal care at Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, during which Revolution Beauty said she ‘built a multi-year, multi-stage strategy to elevate and differentiate the business’s approach to omnichannel beauty retailing, leading to a positive upswing in its performance in the segment.’

Revolution Beauty said its pretax loss for the financial year that ended February 28 was £33.9 million, narrowed from £45.9 million a year before.

Total revenue increased 1.7% to £187.8 million from £184.6 million. In-store revenue increased 8.1% to £136.8 million from £126.6 million, while digital revenue fell 12% to £51.0 million from £58.0 million. Revolution Beauty attributed this to the ending of pandemic-related store closures, saying customers ‘switched back very quickly’ from online to in-person shopping when the opportunity arose.

Revolution Beauty’s gross profit margin increased to 40.4% from 38.5%, which it attributed to reduced freight costs and improved stock management. The retailer said this partially offset increased marketing and staffing costs.

The annual report’s publication had been delayed due to the ‘knock-on effect’ caused by the delayed completion of Revolution Beauty’s financial 2022 results after its auditor identified control issues and accounting irregularities.

More recently, Revolution Beauty on July 21 said it was being investigated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority for potential breaches of market abuse regulations between July 2021 and September 2022.

Amid all this, in July, Revolution Beauty reached a ‘settlement agreement’ with major shareholder boohoo Group PLC, after a lengthy dispute which saw the online fashion retailer attempting to force the exit of Alistair McGeorge, now executive chair, and other key Revolution Beauty board members at a dramatic annual general meeting.

The settlement of the tussle saw outgoing CEO Holt and then-chair Derek Zissman agreeing to leave. As part of the hiring of Brindley as new CEO, McGeorge will step back to non-executive chair. Revolution Beauty also is bringing in Colin Henry and Chris Fry as independent non-executive directors. Henry is a former executive at retailer Marks & Spencer Group PLC. Fry was an accountant at PwC and KPMG and currently is chief financial officer at financial-technology firm BankiFi Technology Ltd.

Fast fashion firm boohoo holds just under a 27% stake in Revolution Beauty.

Separately on Thursday, Sports Direct-owner Frasers Group PLC increased its stake in boohoo to 9.1% from 7.8%.

In his last review as CEO, Holt said he was ‘proud of the progress that has been made in the business over the past year,’ adding: ‘We have been focused on reinforcing internal controls and processes to ensure that we are in a position to achieve consistent operational excellence at a global scale, and in line with the required standards. I know I am handing over to an experienced team who will continue from here.’

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