Australian-born lingerie brand Honey Birdette has recorded a 9 per cent lift in its gross margin to 60 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The brand’s parent company PLBY Group confirmed the stats in a full-year trading update, with group CEO Ben Kohn saying this comes amid continued progress in the brand’s turnaround over 2024.
This included placing the brand into discontinued operation in the third quarter in a bid to sell it off – which meant the group wouldn’t share performance details of the brand. As of the fourth quarter, Honey Birdette is back as a continued operation with PLBY Group retaining ownership.
Kohn added that Honey Birdette has returned to generating meaningful cash flow of US$6.1 million (~A$9.64 million) for 2024.
“Although [Honey Birdette’s] gross sales were lower in Q4 due to meaningfully reducing our promotional activity, as we focus on brand health and profitability, full price sales showed year-over-year growth, and gross margins expanded to 60 per cent from 51 per cent in Q4.
“Same store sales returned to growth and were up 4 per cent year-over-year.”
The group’s direct-to-consumer revenue – which includes Honey Birdette – was US$19.9 million in the fourth quarter, largely in-line with US$20.4 million in Q4 2023.
PLBY Group cited lower promotional activity in Q4 in Honey Birdette for the slight decrease overall.
For the full year 2024, PLBY Group revenue fell by US$26.8 million to US$116.1 million. According to the group, US$19.7 million of the decrease was due to the reduction in licensing revenue through its Playboy business from the 2023 termination of two China licensing partners and lower licensing audit revenues.
Another US$8.3 million of the decrease was due to the completion of the transition of the playboy.com e-commerce business from owned-and-operated to licensed, along with a decline in revenue at Honey Birdette.
“During 2024, we largely completed a comprehensive transformation of the Company, moving to an asset-light model, reducing corporate overhead and laying the groundwork for positive free cash flow and substantial growth,” Kohn said. “With a leaner operating model and stronger balance sheet, we are now well-positioned to focus on growth.”
The group is expecting to hit total revenue of US$120 million for the full-year 2025.