The Home Group (THG), a UK household retail conglomerate, achieved substantial sales growth in the first quarter of 2024, attributed to the “excellent performance” of its beauty category. Compared to the previous year, revenues for THG’s beauty brands, Cult Beauty and LookFantastic, increased by 4.5%, with total sales continuing to rise by 0.3%, reaching £459 million.
Sales for THG Beauty soared by 11.1%, driven by a “noticeably strong” performance in the UK market. The company attributed this to the “strong momentum in the beauty industry offsetting continued currency headwinds.”
CEO Matthew Moulding stated, “The beauty business achieved double-digit growth this quarter, with a high-quality, loyal customer base bringing higher profitability per order on a more efficient cost basis.” The company highlighted the addition of the American brand Biossance to its product portfolio, stating that after early “positive” signs, it could “scale up to become one of our largest proprietary brands.”
THG anticipates sales to continue growing by 2% to 5% this year. Moulding added, “Following the revenue growth recovery in the fourth quarter of 2023, it’s pleasing to see the acceleration in revenue growth in the first quarter, demonstrating the hard work and dedication of our employees, who remain focused on the task at hand despite the challenging macroeconomic environment.”
“Our largest business, THG Beauty, particularly delivered encouraging performance in the first quarter. Operational changes throughout 2023, including a focus on more profitable regions and customers, temporarily impacted growth for much of last year. However, since the fourth quarter, we’ve seen tangible benefits from these actions.”