Trilogy International, the scented candle and beauty products maker, says it's now selling a bottle of its flagship rosehip oil every 20 seconds and is optimistic about annual growth, despite a declining market for skincare in Australasia.
In notes from the company's annual meeting published on the NZX, Trilogy said it anticipates revenue for the six months to September 30 to exceed $50 million - compared to $47.8m in last year's first half - and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) to exceed $6m. Its 2016 first half ebitda was $7.2m. Still, it expects annual revenue and ebitda growth to exceed 10 per cent, depending on the performance of its developing market in China, as its revenue and ebitda growth typically is stronger in the second half.
Trilogy said increased costs of rosehip oil, its investment in relaunching its Ecoya brand, and margin compression from a weaker New Zealand dollar had impacted on its first-half profitability, though that has been offset by upside from its acquisition of Lanocorp.
For the year to March 31, the company posted a 19 per cent gain in ebitda earnings to $19.4m, while net profit rose 35 per cent to $12.7m, though that included a one-time gain from changing to CS & Co as distributor. Sales climbed 25 per cent to $103.7m, with CS & Co accounting for the biggest portion of the increase.
Ebitda in the company's natural products segment, mainly its Trilogy and Goodness skincare brands, rose just 2 per cent to $11.8m in the year, despite sales rising 13 per cent to $38.8m. Ebitda in home fragrance, which includes its Ecoya range, dropped to $1.8m from $2.5m a year earlier, though sales rose 7 per cent to $21.4m in the year.