Warpaint London beats its own expectations as sales leap

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 11, 2023

British Beauty specialist Warpaint London saw ongoing buoyant trading in Q4 and said its full-year 2022 results will be ahead of expectations, with the firm calling out its US performance as particularly strong.

The company, which owns the W7 and Technic brands, had said in an update back in September that the year ended 31 December would see sales of “at least” £61 million compared to £50 million in 2021. 

But after “particularly strong trading in Q4”, it said that sales for the full year have exceeded previous expectations and are expected to be around £64 million.

As a result, the company expects to report adjusted EBITDA rising to around £11.8 million from £7.6 million a year ago. And adjusted pre-tax profit should be around £10 million, up from £6.9 million. Both of those new forecasts are ahead of market expectations and ahead of previous guidance. 

The company also continues to have a strong balance sheet with cash balances at the end of the year of £5.8 million and no debt, compared to a balance of £4.1 million 12 months earlier.

It will release the final results in April, but for now, CEO Sam Bazini said: “I am delighted with the performance of the group in 2022.  We enjoyed a strong trading performance in Q4 across the group, with sales growth in the US and online being particular highlights.  We were also able to improve our margins year-on-year. We expect to see a continuing strong performance in 2023.”