Hellofresh shares slump on disappointing profit guidance

Meal kit outfit Hellofresh saw its shares head south early on Tuesday after providing 2023 profit guidance that fell short of market expectations on the back of decreasing order numbers amid inflationary constraints.

Hellofresh expects full-year adjusted underlying earnings to be between €460.0m and €540.0m, short of estimates of €547.0m, and said its number of active customers looked set to decline slightly in the first half before improving again in the second.

In order to stem losses, HelloFresh said it will now turn its attention towards controlling costs and stabilising its customer base in an effort to increase profitability.

For the year just gone, Hellofresh said annual revenues rose 27% to roughly €7.6bn, while adjusted underlying earnings reached €477.0m with a margin of 6.3% - down from €528.0m and 8.8%, respectively.

"2022 presented us with a whole new set of challenges that our teams worked very hard on to tackle. While we continue to face a difficult macro environment, we still posted healthy growth rates and maintained strong levels of profitability," said chief executive Dominik Richter.

"All in all, I am very pleased how we navigated an unprecedented macro environment and continued to innovate on the customer's behalf during 2022."

As of 0945 GMT, Hellofresh shares were down 4.09% at €21.80 each.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com