The Hut Group raises FY revenue guidance following strong Q3

British e-commerce firm The Hut Group said on Monday that third-quarter revenues had accelerated, leading the firm to upgrade its full-year revenue guidance.

THG said group revenues had increased 38.6% year-on-year to £378.1m, while direct-to-consumer online revenues grew 51.3% to £320.2m.

As a result of the solid third quarter, The Hut Group raised its full-year 2020 revenue guidance to between £1.48bn and £1.52bn - a 30-33% year-on-year improvement.

The London-listed firm said its ingenuity division saw its high margin ingenuity commerce revenues grow 171.4% to £5.1m, while the division as a whole grew at 10.1% during the third quarter.

THG added that new customer acquisition continued to be "very strong" as repeat purchase rates continued to improve and also highlighted that operating costs remained stable, with margins unchanged due to continued re-investment.

Russ Mould at AJ Bell stated whether THG's strong performance was due to "unexpected trading boost or just canny management of investors' expectations" remained to be seen but pointed out that it should help keep sentiment in "a positive place" either way.

"In order to maintain this momentum the firm will rely on strong demand across its health supplement and beauty product sites through the Christmas trading period and upcoming Black Friday sales event," said Mould.

He also highlighted that the longer-term excitement around the story was based on THG's ingenuity platform.

"For now this part of the business makes only a modest contribution and if the business is to hold on to its premium valuation, the market will expect to see rapid growth in this area. The good news is that, after minimal first-half growth, a double-digit advance was conjured in the third quarter," Mould added.

As of 1055 GMT, THG shares were up 11.79% at 745.20p.