Naturhouse earns €5.9 million in the first quarter of the year and reaches 2,342 centres worldwide, achieving 52% of the guidance for 2017 in just 3 months
Barcelona, 28 April 2017.- Naturhouse, a company specialising in the sale of diet products and dietary re-education, once again improved its revenues last quarter and made significant progress in terms of centre openings, achieving 52% of the guidance for the whole year in just three months.
Sales increased by 0.6% to €25 million, due to the positive performance of France and Spain and the significant growth shown in new countries, which are making an increasingly greater contribution to the group’s sales. EBITDA stands at €8.5 million and the EBITDA margin at 34%, placing it within the upper part of the group’s target range for 2017 (30%-35%), in spite of the costs arising from developing new markets. Net Income, meanwhile, reached €5.9 million.
In terms of geographical areas, as well as the recovery shown by the French market¾especially significant in March¾the speeding up of growth in sales in Spain also stands out. Italy and Poland were both affected, the former due to the negative effect of bad weather in January and February (earthquakes and snow) and the latter due to the negative effect of the €/zloty exchange rate, given that in local currency sales continue to rise.
In terms of centre numbers, Naturhouse opened 63 centres in 1Q17 to reach a total of 2,342 centres worldwide, achieving 53% of the total openings planned for the year.
As regards to net cash position, Naturhouse ended 1Q17 with €18.69 million, which is a 46% increase compared to the end of 2016. It should be highlighted that this figure does not include the repayment of €4.5 million from the Spanish Tax Authority, which is still pending. If this figure were included, the company’s net cash position at the end of 1Q17 would stand at €23.18 million.
Yesterday’s General Shareholders’ Meeting also approved the payment of the final dividend for 2016 of €10.8 million (€0.18/share), to be paid on 5 May. This leads to a total dividend for 2016 of €0.38/share, reaching a payout rate of 101% and placing per-dividend yield at 7.84%*.
Meanwhile, for 2017, the company has committed to maintaining the EBITDA margin between 30% and 35% and the payout rate at more than 85%, while it also plans to end the year with 2,400 centres.
According to Félix Revuelta, Chairman of Naturhouse: “The acceleration of growth in Spain, which consolidates the market’s recovery, the return to growth in France and our positive outlook for the Italian market, along with the considerable expansion efforts being made in the US and the UK will all be key elements in 2017 and the pillars of a new period for consolidating the growth we expect to see in the medium term.”
About Naturhouse
Naturhouse is a Spanish business group listed on the Spanish stock exchange that works in the diet and nutrition sector, with a proprietary and distinctive business model based on the “Naturhouse Method”. The method combines the sale of food supplements with free, personalised advice and monitoring from a qualified specialist. Since it opened its first shop in the Spanish city of Vitoria in 1992, Naturhouse has provided advice to more than 5,500,000 people. The company, which operates in 32 countries, had 2,342 centres at 31 March 2017, both directly operated and franchises. Naturhouse is the only diet food business to be present throughout the whole value chain, from product development and manufacturing to sales and customer assessment. This, alongside the business’ low investment requirements and an attractive return for franchisees, has meant the company has received numerous awards. For seven consecutive years, it has been selected as one of the top 100 franchises worldwide by Franchise Direct.
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