Lifes2Good sees profit jump after celebrity backing

Lifes2Good, a Galway-headquartered distributor of healthcare and beauty products, saw profit surge last year as turnover topped €50 million.

Newly filed accounts show the company, which received a €5 million investment from the BDO Development Capital Fund in early 2015, recorded pretax profit of €2.96 million last year. This compares with €934,486 a year earlier.

Earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation increased by €1.27 million to €4.76 million.

Revenue rise

Revenue rose 19 per cent from €42 million to €50 million while the company saw operating profit increase to €3.26 million from €943,677 in 2014.

Founded in 1997 by James Murphy, who still owns 84 per cent of the share capital in the company, Lifes2Good is a fast-growing company with a portfolio of healthcare, dental beauty and petcare products under brands that include Viviscal, Pettura and Sonic Chic.

The firm's Viviscal hair supplement range, which has been lauded by celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Reese Witherspoon and Miley Cyrus, is on sale in more than 25,000 US stores including Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, GNC and Duane Reade. Lifes2Good struck a deal late last year with Wal-Mart and Target that will see the discount supermarkets also carrying the range.

The latest accounts for Lifes2Good show the company had €25 million in shareholders’ funds at the end of 2015 with cash at hand of just over €8 million.

The company employed 99 people at the end of 2015 but recently announced plans to create an additional 50 jobs following the €5 million funding injection last year.

Staff costs, including wages and salaries, rose to €6.5 million in 2015 from €5.1 million a year earlier. Directors’ remuneration totalled €588,414.

“The directors continue to seek opportunities to expand the product base and also explore new markets for the group’s existing products,” the company said in a note included with the accounts.

Mr Murphy, a former EY Entrepreneur of the Year award finalist, is also a member of the Galway Tenors.