Trilogy lifts first half profit 10%

Trilogy International, the skincare and home fragrance company, lifted first-half profit 10% and reiterated its earnings guidance for the full year.

Net profit rose to $3.5 million, or 5c per share, in the six months ended September 30, from $3.2 million, or 5c, a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Revenue rose 63% to $47.8 million, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) gained 34% to $7.2 million.

The shares fell 9.1% to close the day at $3.28. 

Trilogy's brands include Ecoya, Trilogy and Goodness, and it owns CS & Co, the country's largest independent importer and distributor of fragrances and toiletries, which it bought in August 2015.

The company affirmed its September guidance for 2017 revenue of $100 million to $110 million, a gain of between 20% and 32% over 2016's $83 million of sales, and ebitda of $19 million to $21 million, from $16.3 million in 2016.

If Trilogy International achieves $100 million in revenue it will have almost tripled sales in just two years, mainly through the CS & Co acquisition. CS & Co delivered $24 million in revenue in the first half and ebitda of $3.6 million.

Ecoya delivered nearly $9 million in revenue, up 4.4% from the first half of 2016, and $339,000 in ebitda while its skincare brands Trilogy and Goodness posted $17.8 million in revenue, up 14.6% though ebitda fell to $4.5 million from $5.5 million the previous year.

The bulk of Trilogy's sales still come from New Zealand, at $28.4 million in the first half, while $13.5 million in revenue came from Australia. The company said it is working to strengthen its distribution networks, signing an agreement with a broker and specialist beauty chain Credo Beauty in the US, along with an agreement with Chinese e-commerce company QBID to build its cross-border sales into that country.

In May, Trilogy acquired 25% of Chilean rosehip producer Forestal Casino for $US8 million in cash and shares, giving it certainty of supply for an oil used in skincare products. In the first half it gained $183,000 from its share of earnings.

The board didn't declare an interim dividend.

(BusinessDesk)