Hain Celestial is making “good progress” on a strategic review of its portfolio as the performance at the owner of Ella’s Kitchen and New Covent Garden Soup continued to falter.
The US-headquartered group engaged Goldman Sachs in May to kick off a “comprehensive review” of strategic options after a turnaround at the company failed to take hold. Hain also ousted CEO Wendy Davidson as trading at the business deteriorated.
It followed the launch of the ‘Hain Reimagined’ action plan in September 2023 as the group looked to simplify its portfolio, cut costs and improve margins.
Net sales at Hain fell 7% year on year to $368m (£279.5m) in its first quarter to 30 September, with organic sales down 6%, the latest results revealed.
The business also recorded a net loss of $21m (£16m), compared to a $20m loss a year ago, as margins decreased.
Organic sales declined by 7% in North America in the quarter and by 4% internationally, with the UK being its biggest market.
Despite the declines, the first-quarter results came in slightly ahead of market expectations.
“First-quarter results met our expectations on the top and bottom line,” said interim CEO Alison Lewis. “During the quarter, organic net sales trends demonstrated sequential improvement in both our North America and international segments.
“Cost discipline and the decisive actions taken to streamline our cost structure drove a reduction in selling, general, and administrative expenses, and we are seeing early results from the execution against our ‘five actions to win’, including benefits from pricing initiatives beginning to build.
“Our near-term priorities remain clear: stabilising sales, improving profitability, optimising cash and deleveraging our balance sheet.
“We have made tangible progress in laying the operational and financial foundations necessary to position Hain for sustainable growth, and we have building blocks in place to drive improved trends in the back half of the year. In parallel, we continue to make good progress against the strategic review work with Goldman Sachs.”
Hain registered net losses of $531m in the year to 30 June 2025 as it wrote down the value of its assets.
Its shares have lost 80% of their value so far in 2025.
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