A recent lift in sales and margins at Australian-born lingerie retailer Honey Birdette has buoyed its US-based parent company PLBY Group to commence a buyer search for the brand.
PLBY Group is the parent company of the media and lifestyle brand Playboy.
Group CEO Ben Kohn said Honey Birdette posted a second consecutive quarter of positive sales growth, alongside expanded gross margins both year-over-year and sequentially.
“Specifically, our sales grew 8 per cent quarter-over-quarter and our gross margin expanded from 43 per cent to 52 per cent during the same period,” Kohn said.
“With new momentum based on recent growth, we believe the time is right to actively seek a new partner or owner of the Honey Birdette business that can invest the capital necessary to expand the brand’s presence globally.
“A sale of all or a portion of the Honey Birdette business would allow us to focus our capital and attention on our key strategic priorities for the year: growing the Playboy brand and de-levering our balance sheet.”
The imminent sale of Honey Birdette was first made public by Kohn earlier this year at a US conference, telling the audience that the lingerie business doesn’t belong in PLBY Group.
It also comes after PLBY Group began consolidating its assets by selling off two of its other subsidiaries - sexual wellness brand Lovers and another lingerie brand Yandy.
The recent uplift in Honey Birdette’s quarterly sales follows a 14 per cent sales lift in the fourth quarter of 2023 for the brand. It also offset a 20 per cent drop in overall revenue for PLBY Group recorded in the first quarter to US$28.3 million (A$42.75 million).
Approximately $3.5 million of the decrease was attributable to the playboy.com e-commerce business no longer being operated by the company in 2024, which was in addition to a $5.5 million decline in licensing revenue attributable to the termination of two China licensees in late 2023.
“Over the past several months, we have stabilized our core business as we have executed on the key goals from 2023, and we can now shift our focus to accelerating growth in our areas of strategic priority,” Kohn said.
“Net loss from continuing operations narrowed 55% and adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed 74% compared to the first quarter of 2023, as costs and expenses were reduced significantly more than revenues.
“Our first quarter 2024 numbers also do not yet include any contribution from the largest new licensing deal we have recently signed for China, which is expected to contribute in the second quarter of 2024.”