Cult Beauty and Myprotein operator THG has said sales returned to growth in recent months as it brought its products to a growing number of stores around the world.
Shares in the Manchester-based firm leapt higher after it said its nutrition business was growing at the fastest rate in more than three years.
It told investors that revenue growth for the division – which also includes Myprotein’s clothing arm, and Myvitamins – was expected to be between 5% and 7% for the second quarter.
Myprotein products are now available in more than 34,000 stores, primarily in the UK, US and Japan, and it is expecting this to grow to 40,000 around the world by the end of the year.
This has been boosted by expansion in the US with new listings in retail giant Walmart, pharmacy chain CVS, and expansion into additional GNC nutrition stores.
It also said new listings had been secured at chains including thousands of 7-Eleven stores in Taiwan and Singapore, and in Dutch health and wellness gain Kruidvat.
The company is anticipating in-store sales from the brand to be around £170 million for the full year.
This is despite ongoing inflation across milk and whey prices – key ingredients for protein shakes and powder – but THG said there had been some recent signs of that starting to ease.
Meanwhile, THG said sales across its beauty division were expected to decline by about 2% to 3% over the second quarter. This would nonetheless mark an improvement after sales dropped by a 10th in the first quarter.
The beauty arm, which includes online retailers Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic, enjoyed growth in the UK but this was offset by the decision to withdraw from some less profitable locations in Asia and Europe.
Shares in THG were soaring by more than 15% on Wednesday morning.
