The sports supplement maker Applied Nutrition has raised its annual sales and profit guidance for the third time this year, bringing the company founded by a former Liverpool scaffolder within touching distance of a £1 billion stock market valuation.
Shares in the group, which cited “sustained demand” across its range of protein powders, sports supplements and energy drinks, initially rose more than 9 per cent when markets opened on Wednesday. Those gains later fell away, with the stock down 0.3 per cent at 321p by lunchtime amid concerns about an anticipated drop in margins.
In its latest trading update, Applied Nutrition said it now expects annual earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of approximately £43.3 million, ahead of the £42 million consensus forecast and up 40 per cent on the £30.9 million reported last year. Revenue is also expected to come in ahead of expectations, up by 50 per cent to £160 million.
Wednesday’s announcement is the third upgrade to revenue guidance this year, delivered despite headwinds from the Iran war, which has put pressure on consumer spending and disrupted shipping in parts of the Middle East.
The shares have risen by about 90 per cent over the past 12 months, giving the group a market capitalisation of more than £800 million and bringing the business within reach of the £1 billion milestone.
From Kirkby side hustle to the stock market
Tom Ryder, a fitness enthusiast who trained as a scaffolder in Liverpool, founded Applied Nutrition in 2014. He began selling sports supplements as a side hustle from a small shop in Kirkby when he was 18, before eventually deciding to go into the industry full time. The business started out with a single product, Critical Mass.
The company has since attracted a host of well-known backers, including Coleen Rooney, the wife of the former England footballer Wayne Rooney; Peter Cowgill, the former chief executive of JD Sports; and Mohsin Issa, the co-founder of the petrol forecourt business EG Group.
Applied Nutrition, which beat forecasts in its first year as a listed business, was one of the London market’s biggest flotations of 2024.
US expansion weighs on margins
Analysts at Berenberg described momentum at the sports nutrition company as “impressive”, although they noted an expected drop in margins in fiscal 2027. Applied Nutrition said this reflected an increased revenue contribution from the United States, coupled with “significantly higher whey protein costs and a greater proportion of sales from whey-based products”.
The group has been pushing further into the US market, recently securing a £12 million acquisition of Nutrablend Group, a nutrition company based in Buffalo, New York. It has also announced a licensing deal with the confectionery giant Mondelez International to develop sports nutrition products under the Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish labels, with the new range to be stocked in 2,200 Walmart stores.
Net cash stood at £15.9 million at the end of fiscal 2026, down from £18.5 million the previous year, following the Nutrablend acquisition. Looking ahead, the company guided to revenue of approximately £205 million and Ebitda of about £49 million for fiscal 2027.
