Revolution Beauty swings to first-half profit

Cosmetics group Revolution Beauty swung to a profit in the first half after a 20% jump in sales, a strong improvement in margins and cost reductions.

The AIM-listed company recorded a profit before tax of £0.4m for the six months to 31 August, compared with a loss of £13.7m a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA came in at £6.4m, up from a loss of £7.9bn previously.

Group revenues totalled £90.4m in the period, up from £75.3m previously, driven by growth across all regions and helped by softer comparative the year before.

Meanwhile, gross margins jumped by 8 percentage points, from 41.4% to 49.4%.

"Our strengthened financial performance and the return to positive EBITDA represents a significant milestone in the next phase of this business, while new retail partnerships in the US and strengthened retail partnerships elsewhere around the world are representative of our operational progress," said new chief executive Lauren Brindley, the former Walgreens exec who joined the company in August.

The stock was up 2.7% at 28.4p by 1156 GMT.