SMH Business NewsBubs' revenue slips, Jennifer Hawkins confirmed...

SMH Business News
Bubs' revenue slips, Jennifer Hawkins confirmed as ambassador

ByDarren Gray

ASX-listed infant formula company Bubs Australia has reported a slight decline in revenue for the June quarter, attributing the fall to a combination of surging demand in the March quarter as consumers brought forward purchases to fill their pantries, and challenges to moving international freight caused by the severe decline in international flights.

The company also announced it had secured TV host and former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins as its global brand ambassador.

Total Australian sales, the company’s biggest market, were down 15 per cent on the June quarter of last year, and yet Australian sales to domestic buyers actually rose significantly as the company expanded its distribution outlets.

However, total Australian sales declined because of the impact of the coronavirus travel restrictions on the Daigou trade, as Chinese tourists, students and small professional daigou operators who buy Australian products to export and sell in China all but disappeared.

Overall Bubs delivered a strong annual performance overall, with full-year group revenue climbing 32 per cent to $62 million.

Infant formula sales rose 69 per cent across the full 2019-20 financial year, and made up 71 per cent of the company’s total June quarterly revenue. Direct sales to China also performed strongly in the June quarter, up 26 per cent on the prior corresponding period.

“Growth in sales of Bubs Infant Formula has been a key driver of performance,” said Bubs founder and chief executive Kristy Carr.

“Infant formula has now reached a position of scale and is well established as the growth engine of our portfolio, with quarterly sales up 20 per cent over the prior comparable period,” she said.

“Importantly, all of our top three markets demonstrated strong growth year-on-year, despite the very challenging conditions that prevailed throughout the second half across the entire sector in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic,” she said.

Shortly after 10.30am shares in Bubs were down 3.9 per cent to 98 cents.