London float was a bad move for The Hut Group, says boss

The Hut Group boss said he “would not recommend” a listing on the London Stock Exchange after his shares fell more than 80 percent since going public in 2020.

THG – as it is now known – announced a ten-year partnership with an online beauty retailer, but this week CEO Matt Molding said: “The way we’ve been treated since joining the LSE has done nothing but add fuel to our insatiable fights. spirit.

“It’s certainly not an experience I would recommend to anyone, but it has been quite a test of our start-up mentality.”

The Manchester company, which owns brands such as Cult Beauty, ESPA and Illamasqua, was valued at £5.4 billion when it was listed on the largest exchange since Royal Mail in 2013 in 2020. It is now worth just £827 million.

Molding, 51, said he and his top team now have a “THG against the world” mentality.

While he said he was initially worried the listing would “weaken” his drive, he said he “couldn’t have been further wrong” and THG has since felt even more of an underdog.

Molding first argued with the 2021 listing when he said an “obvious lesson” from the debut was “don’t go public in the UK”.

It comes amid fears that the Square Mile is losing its allure after some big names have moved from London to New York.

Construction giant CRH said it would move its primary listing to Wall Street last month, while Cambridge chip designer Arm has chosen New York instead of London to list its shares.

THG cut just under 200 jobs at a base in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. But investors welcomed the news that Maximo, owner of the All Beauty and Fragrance Direct websites, has signed a 10-year deal to use services in THG’s Ingenuity tech division.

Shares rose 2.1 percent, or 1.32 pence, to 65.02 pence.