Protein Works: Sales and profit spike at challenger brand

The company behind challenger brand Protein Works saw its sales and profit jump during its latest financial year.

The Cheshire-headquartered group has reported a turnover of £42.8m for the 12 months to August 31, 2023, up from £30.7m.

Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show its pre-tax profit surged from £293,774 to £4.1m over the same period.

Protein Works itself saw its pre-tax profit increase from £2.1m to £6.4m in the year.

The brand, was originally founded by Mark Coxhead, is now led by chief executive Laura Keir.

She said: “We’re very proud of the remarkable performance Protein Works has delivered in recent years, and of our status as one of the most trusted functional food brands. 

“Our team and brand’s ability to swiftly adapt and innovate in response to consumer needs, coupled with a focus on operational efficiency, data-led thinking and marketing excellence, has driven our success to new heights.

“The latest numbers are a testament to our incredible community of customers and the dedication and talent of our team.

“We have a great brand, with a proven legacy of high performance and now exceptional profitability – it makes us very excited for the future.”

During the year the average number of people employed by the group fell from 172 to 154.

The competition

According to THG, Myprotein is the world’s largest online sports nutrition brand.

THG Nutrition, which it sits within, reported a revenue of £657.9m for 2023, down slightly from £662.7m.

In its annual results, THG said that its nutrition division “achieved an impressive performance, and with inflationary pressures easing, posted substantially higher margin growth year-on-year”.

It added: “The early results from the major Myprotein rebrand are also encouraging as we’ve taken steps to further enhance the premium nature of the world’s No.1 online sports nutrition brand.”

Huel, which is backed by the likes of Idris Elba, Jonathan Ross and Steven Bartlett, posted a revenue of £184.4m for the year to July 31, 2023, up from £144.3m.

It also went from making a pre-tax loss of £10.6m to a pre-tax profit of £4.6m.

PhD Nutrition, which is owned by London-listed Science in Sport, achieved a revenue of £34.1m in 2022, a rise of 15 per cent.

Science in Sport is expected to make its results for 2023 public in the coming weeks.

Also for 2022, Grenade UK reported a turnover of £60.3m, up from £54.6m, while its pre-tax profit grew from £7.2m to £8.2m.

Its accounts for 2023 are expected to be filed with Companies House by the end of September.

City A.M. is owned by THG.