Revolution Beauty returns to profit with £14.5m EBITDA swing as gross margin climbs
The beauty brand, whose largest shareholder is Debenhams Group, posted half-year adjusted EBITDA of £2m, against a £12.5m loss a year earlier.
Revolution Beauty has moved into profit, reporting adjusted EBITDA of £2 million for the half-year ending 31 August 2026. That is a £14.5 million turnaround from the £12.5 million loss recorded a year before, when the online beauty brand was struggling.
Its largest shareholder is Manchester-based ecommerce group Debenhams Group, formerly boohoo.
Stronger margins and lower costs drove the recovery.
Revenue fell 2% to £48.4 million from £49.4 million. The previous half-year had been lifted by one-off licence income, clearance sales and discontinued brands. Excluding those, underlying revenue rose 8.3%.
Gross margin increased by 11.4 percentage points to 43.6%, supported by reduced gross-to-net charges and tighter control of ranges and inventory. Operating costs were reduced to £19.1 million, a cut of almost a third.
The interim figures build on a September trading update in which Revolution reported a 22% increase in online sales across Amazon, TikTok Shop and revolutionbeauty.com, with TikTok Shop the main driver.
UK revenue grew again, up 1.7% to £15.6 million, as gains in digital channels more than offset the exit from Relove and iHeart. US revenue eased to £10.2 million and Rest of World revenue dropped to £22.6 million.
Net debt was £4.5 million lower than a year earlier at £25.7 million, with cash of £4.3 million. Gross inventory fell by £3.3 million to £30.8 million.
This was the opening half of the first full financial year led by co-founders Tom Allsworth, the chief executive, and Adam Minto. The pair rejoined in August 2025 and helped it return to profit at adjusted EBITDA level in the second half of FY26.
The company has now recorded 13 consecutive months of positive adjusted EBITDA up to 30 September.
The group says trading is at the upper end of market expectations for the year ending February 2027. Those expectations put revenue at £92 million to £95 million, with adjusted EBITDA put at £6 million to £6.6 million.
The first fragrance and gifting ranges under its new licensing agreement with Debenhams Group, which covers boohooMAN, Karen Millen and PrettyLittleThing, are set to launch ahead of Christmas.
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