Warpaint London lodges another record first half, expect more to come

Positive news continues to light up Warpaint London’s results as the specialist colour cosmetics maker/distributor reported “significant” growth that adds up to another record first half performance. Its shares rose early on and stayed up by over 10%.

The owner of the in-demand W7 and Technic brands said revenue for the six months ended 30 June leapt 25% to £45.8 million as core earnings (EBITDA) improved 66% to £12 million. Gross profit margin lifted 334bps to 42.5%.

That success was partly driven by strong growth in the UK, where revenues jumped 17% to £15.5 million, while international revenues, particularly in Europe, increased by an even better 30% to £30.3 million.

And those star brands also outperformed with W7 sales up 25% and Technic sales improving 34%.

The future also looks bright with Warpaint saying orders are consistent with previous years with sales expected to again be second-half-weighted.

A “delighted” chief executive Sam Bazini said its latest set of results “reflected the ongoing success of the group’s strategy of focusing on growing profitable sales of [our] branded products globally.

“There continue to be significant growth opportunities for Warpaint, and the group is very well positioned to achieve further growth with additional improvement in margins.”

Group sales for the nine months to 30 September are expected to be around £76 million, up from £64 million in the year-ago period, “providing confidence that full-year expectations will be met”.

It said further planned launches in H2 are expected to increase the number of products stocked and outlets served with certain existing customers, particularly in the UK, Europe and the US, “while discussions with additional major retailers globally are ongoing”, it added.