Applied Nutrition profits surge 77% as sales rise and firm says ‘innovation engine is stronger than ever’

Merseyside firm says it expects to hit full-year targets despite war disruption

Merseyside’s Applied Nutrition has seen profits soar in the past six months as sales have risen – and says it still expects to meet full-year revenue targets despite the impact of the Iran war.

The sports nutrition business said pre-tax profits for the six months to January 31 stood at £20.9m, up 77.1% on a year earlier. Sales rose 56.5% to £74.5m.

In its half-year statement, the company said it was “cognisant” of disruption to shipping routes and purchasing habits in the Middle East with the Iran war and predicted “some reduction” in sales volumes into the region in the current half-year. But it said it still expects to meet full-year revenue targets of around £140 million.

The group said successes over the year included its first out-licensing agreement with Morrisons, extending the Applied Nutrition brand into “mainstream grocery” with new high‐protein food products. It said it had also seen growth in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Work has also begun on the group’s global distribution facility and head office, as well as phase 3 of a factory extension which “will increase revenue capability to £300m”.

Applied Nutrition floated on the London stock market in 2024. The business has been backed by JD Sports and by TV personality Coleen Rooney, who in February increased her stake in the business.

Thomas Ryder, CEO of Applied Nutrition, said: “Our vision to become the world’s most trusted and innovative sports nutrition, health, and wellness brand remains at the heart of our ambition. This six-month period has further highlighted both the breadth of opportunity before us and our proven ability to realise it. The performance and momentum across the business reflects a consumer environment that continues to shift decisively towards health, fitness and wellbeing.

“We have continued to execute against our strategic priorities in the period, with deeper engagement and expanded shelf space with existing customers, new customer wins and entry into new channels, continued international rollout into new geographies, while further progressing the build-out of our D2C offering.

“Since our IPO, we have seen an uplift in our profile, awareness, trust and credibility – exactly as we had envisaged, but even more impactful than we could have anticipated. This has enabled us to move faster and think bigger, with an innovation engine that is stronger than ever, allowing us to bring new products to market at pace, deepen customer relationships and adapt quickly to evolving consumer needs as we continue to build the business for the long term.”