Trading Update – growth propelled by Vaping

In a Trading Update for the year to 31 March 2022, Supreme PLC reports that it expects revenue of above £130.0m and EBITDA (adjusted) of no less than £21.0m based on strong organic growth in its core segments, augmented by strategic acquisitions. The Group expects continued profitable growth in FY23 driven by demand for its Vaping division products, partially offset by commodity price inflation impacting Sports Nutrition & Wellness division.

• The update indicates FY22 performance in line with our forecasts; our revenue estimate of £130.0m is revised to £130.4m. We have revised EBITDA outlook from £21.5m to £21.2m to reflect the impact of commodity price inflation in the Sports Nutrition & Wellness segment (12.1% of FY22 estimated revenue). Vaping remains the mainstay of performance, where Supreme expects to report 10%YoY growth in FY22 (33.4% of ED estimated revenue: 52.8% of ED estimated gross contribution) backed by the addition of Sainsbury’s and Morrisons to its customer base. The Group highlights 2%YoY growth in the Batteries division (26.4% of FY22E revenue) and +5%YoY in Lighting (20.9% of FY22E revenue) with gross margin improvement.

• For FY23 Supreme highlights “double digit” growth prospects in its Vaping division. Despite FY22 growth in Sports Nutrition & Wellness revenue of over 130%YoY(E), profitability in this division was impacted by a combination of the increased price of whey and additional wage and transportation costs.

Changes to estimates and medium-term outlook

• We remain fundamentally positive for growth prospects in Supreme’s leading Vape division where we expect the contribution to gross earnings to have risen from 45.1% in FY20 to just under 60% by FY24, propelling an increase in total (pre-forex) gross margin from 28.0% to 30.5% over the period.

• Our positive outlook for Vaping offsets near-term pressure on the Sports Nutrition & Wellness segment so that our revenue outlook to FY24 is unchanged. Our FY23 EBITDA (adj.) outlook is £22.0m from £24.0m, an 8.2% reduction, and in FY24 6.6% lower, taking a conservative view on the medium-term trends in energy and commodity prices which have already impacted a broad range of sectors. Taking these factors into account we adjust our fair value to 230p/share.

Audio summary of our note here: