Revenue climbs for Supreme despite slowdown of lighting vapes
Vaping giant Supreme posts revenue growth of seven per cent to £130.8m in its full year results thanks to fresh acquisitions and customer momentum for 88vape.
Despite Juul crack downs in the US, vaping, which is the firm’s largest and most profitable category, continues to perform strongly and is expected to deliver revenue growth of around 30 per cent in the coming year – half of which driven by new product development, continued market growth and further distribution expansion and the other half from the Liberty Flights acquisition.
The company has been growing the vape’s market share by expanding its presence in the likes of Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, as well as in convenience retail via Core Communications.
The group expects to deliver another solid, profitable year in the full year but revenue and EBITDA are both expected to be below FY22 levels and below previous market expectations, driven by a recent marked decline in the Lighting category following a slow-down in sales compounded by customer overstocking in FY22.
However, Supreme said it expected this slowdown to be “temporary and limited to the Group’s Lighting category”.
The company notably launched two vitamins brands; Millions & Millions and Sealions, which accounted for £9m in revenue, and a 132 per cent growth year on year.
However, the firm did warn that “short term commodity price increases are expected to affect demand and profitability” of this space, with Supreme taking steps to mitigate this.
Commenting on the results, Sandy Chadha, Chief Executive Officer of Supreme, commented: “Batteries and Lighting have performed strongly and although customer inventory levels within Lighting will hold back our progress in the short term, I believe this minor setback should not detract from our operational progress to date.
“We are more excited than ever about the potential for Vaping. Our 88vape range is now well-established across our discount channel and has now started to penetrate grocery and convenience retail as well. With increasing levels of government support for vaping, we expect the revenue growth to continue.