The Hut posts record sales of more than £2bn after strong final quarter

Group sales at THG were up 92% on a two-year basis in the fourth quarter to December 31. For the full year, revenues were ahead 91% to £2.18bn.

THG said “the early part of 2022 is expected to be a more challenging comparable period” because of lockdowns last year and high commodity prices. Sales in 2022 are nevertheless expected to increase between 22% and 25%. 

Full-year adjusted EBITDA margin in the year just ended is likely to be in the range of 7.4% to 7.7% versus expectations of 7.9% as a result of adverse foreign currency movements.

Beauty was the etailer’s strongest category and THG received six orders per second during peak. 

THG chief executive Matthew Moulding said: “We are delighted to report significant growth across all divisions during the peak trading period and to have delivered record annual sales of £2.2bn.

“The operational resilience and performance of our Ingenuity infrastructure was a highlight, dispatching over one million units per day at peak periods.

“The investment we have made in automation in the UK delivered year-on-year efficiencies, and we are on track to launch our first AutoStore facility in the US during Q2 2022, supplementing the six warehouses added to the network across three continents during 2021.

“Last year marked our first full year as a public company. Despite challenging conditions, we have scaled revenue and expanded our business model, particularly THG Ingenuity, well ahead of expectations given at our IPO 16 months ago.

“At the same time, we welcomed 3,000 new employees across the world to the group, the majority of whom are within the UK, and completed many transformational projects including the opening of our 1 million sq ft UK technology campus.

“The new year has started well, and we remain confident in delivering our strategic growth plans during 2022 and beyond.”