TIDMSVEN
RNS Number : 9545H
S-Ventures PLC
11 April 2022
11 April 2022
S-Ventures PLC
("S-Ventures", "Group" or the "Company")
S-Ventures, the Company investing in and growing exciting brands
across the natural, wellness and food-tech category, will hold its
Annual General Meeting ("AGM") today at 11am at its headquarters in
London; 5 Old Bailey, London EC4M 7BA.
Ahead of the meeting S-Ventures would like to share the
following update which David Mitchell, the Company's Non-Executive
Chairman will read at the AGM today:
AGM Statement
S-Ventures has made considerable progress developing its
business. Over the past six months, the Group has completed the
acquisition of Livia's Health Foods Limited business ("Livia's")
and Market Rocket Limited ("Market Rocket") together with the
accelerated investment in a new logistics centre at Brockworth.
This new centre has allowed the Company to streamline the Ohso and
We Love Purely businesses by merging their operations into this new
centre which became operational in January 2022.
In common with many businesses in the food sector, the Company
has been affected by headwinds in the economy which has impacted
sales plans. However, our brands are well positioned to benefit
from the structural change in the food market addressing present
trends which deal with concerns for obesity/health and the
composition of foods. As such we continue to invest in food
technology to develop and bring forward new brands.
On a like for like basis our sales for the first half year are
10% ahead of last year, with considerable further growth
anticipated. The Board is pleased to report that Market Rocket,
which completed on Friday 8 April 2022, has already impacted the
Amazon revenue very positively, with growth of 45% in the last
quarter over the previous quarter, before they were acquired.
We Love Purely , the plantain crisp business, continues to grow
well and is expected to double its last year revenues by the end of
September. Margins are slightly lower due to freight costs and
packaging costs. The growth includes recently awarded new contracts
with Holland & Barrett and Co-op.
Ohso, the probiotic chocolate company, has had a recent re-brand
and management is very excited about its repositioning. This should
provide an impetus to its trade sales but has necessarily taken a
little time to arrange. As a consequence, in the current year,
Ohso's performance is below our internal expectations.
Pulsin, which formulates and produces high quality plant-based
products, has been impacted by a period of investment and
reorganisation but despite this, sales in H1 grew by 10%
(year-on-year) and are expected to be significantly ahead of last
year on a full year basis (c.GBP9m v GBP6.4m). The Board is pleased
with this strong growth although this has been less than previously
expected. Sales price rises are now being implemented across our
Pulsin product range.
We now have a portfolio of brands that are strongly positioned
to address the market opportunities.
As noted above, the Group has had a number of cost increases
beyond its control - freight rates and packaging costs, for
instance, and more recently, as has been widely reported, a
doubling in whey prices. In addition, some of the unit costs have
been impacted by labour shortages and operational inefficiencies,
but these have been mitigated by the commissioning of our new
warehouse.
Management is addressing these cost issues in a variety of ways.
Firstly, the merger of the operations of Ohso and Purely into
Pulsin's premises is beginning to bear fruit. Secondly, the Board
has reviewed the cost structure that it inherited at Pulsin and
have undertaken an investment programme which will remove not only
c.GBP0.3m of operating costs per annum but also enable us to
accelerate growth. Some selling costs have been increased to gain
more product and brand awareness.
Livia's: the Board is pleased to report that the Livia's
business, which was acquired in February 2022, has been absorbed
well into the Pulsin operation and will generate positive EBITDA
for the coming period. The Company has been able to retain all the
trade customers of the business. The costs of integration have been
lower than expected and the alliance with Pulsin has allowed it to
reconfigure the range over these two brands.
Other overheads have remained under control despite incurring
acquisition costs for Livia's and Market Rocket.
The investment in Vegan Punk Ventures Limited, a 50% start-up
joint venture focussed on plant-based foods, is expected to show a
small profit in the current half year before considerable growth
next year after promising trials and tasting so far this year.
The Group remains well-resourced after its GBP3m fund raise last
December. Further acquisitions will largely be satisfied by share
issues, together with specific loans required to finance any
balance of consideration and working capital needs.
Overall, the Directors are pleased with the progress to date and
are anticipating a significant increase in sales for the full year
on a year-on-year basis - although below the market forecast.
Consequently, Group losses for the current year are expected to be
reduced significantly. The steps that have been taken and those
being implemented at present will lay firm foundations for next
year where the Group plans to deliver considerable growth.
We look forward to updating shareholders on progress in due
course.
Enquiries:
The Company
Robert Hewitt (Chief Financial
Officer) +44 (0) 1932 400 224
Scott Livingston (Chief Executive
Officer)
AQSE Corporate Adviser and Broker:
VSA Capital Limited +44 (0) 20 3005 5000
Andrew Raca/Pascal Wiese - Corporate
Finance
Andrew Monk - Corporate Broking
IFC Advisory (Financial PR) + 44 (0) 20 3934 6630
Graham Herring
Tim Metcalfe
Florence Chandler
About S-Ventures
S-Ventures is listed on UK AQUIS Exchange (Ticker Code "SVEN").
The Company seeks to identify investment opportunities in the
health & wellness, organic food and wellbeing sectors within
the UK and Europe, adding value by providing capital and expertise
to the target companies. The experience and operational skills of
the Board led by Scott Livingston (CEO) are intended to act as an
accelerator to smaller brands that have a solid foundation and
platform but may lack the skills and capital. The main objectives
are to cross-fertilise opportunities between the target companies
and scale the individual entities and look for exit opportunities
and/or synergistic collaborations through scaling we seek to create
significant value for all stakeholders. Since listing on AQSE in
September 2020, the Company has acquired significant interests in
seven companies.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
NEXGPUUUCUPPUBG
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 11, 2022 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)
SVentures (AQSE:SVEN)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De May 2024 a Jun 2024
SVentures (AQSE:SVEN)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Jun 2023 a Jun 2024
