Recipe box firm Hello Fresh hikes full-year guidance amid coronavirus lockdown boom
Recipe box firm Hello Fresh has hiked its full-year guidance following a surge in demand in the first quarter of the year as customers ordered deliveries during the coronavirus pandemic.
Expected group revenue growth is expected to be between 40 per cent to 55 per cent, from a previous estimate of 22 per cent to 27 per cent.
Hello Fresh’s forecast for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) margin is now six per cent to 10 per cent. Previously it expected it to be four per cent to 5.5 epr cent.
“The currently ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic and the emerging recessionary environment create a significant level of economic uncertainty and therefore also result in a higher than usual risk for Hello Fresh to deviate from any outlook provided,” the German company said.
“However, given the company’s performance in the first quarter of 2020, it will adjust its full year 2020 outlook.”
The number of active customers jumped 68.4 per cent to 4.18m in the first three months of 2020 compared to the previous year.
Revenue soared 66.4 per cent to €699.1m as the company delivered more than 111m meals to customers during the first quarter. Hello Fresh reported group Ebitda of €63.1m.
Strong trading has continued into the second quarter, with revenue and ebitda margins “meaningfully above” the first quarter.
Hello Fresh co-founder and chief executive Dominik Richter said: “On top of our already very strong first two months of the year, our meals have attracted significant additional demand in the second half of March, as the global pandemic hit all of our markets in short order.
“Especially in those times, it makes us proud that we were able to deliver 111m meals to families throughout the world, allowing them to enjoy incredible home-cooked meals from the safety of their homes at a very affordable price point.”