HelloFresh SE: ends strong FY-2021 with another record quarter

Berlin / DE. (hf) HelloFresh SE, the world’s leading meal kit company, announced its financial results for the full year 2021. The Group ended the year with a very strong performance, delivering almost 1 billion meals to customers in 17 markets across four continents. Group revenue for the full year 2021 amounted to EUR 6.0 billion (+61.5 percent y-o-y in constant currency, FY 2020: EUR 3.7 billion), at the upper end of the previously upwards revised revenue growth outlook. Growth was driven by ongoing customer growth in both operating segments (the US segment and the International segment), as well as continued high order rates and meals per order. On an adjusted Ebitda basis, HelloFresh reached EUR 527.6 million for the FY 2021. With an adjusted Ebitda margin for the FY 2021 at 8.8 percent on Group level, the Company maintained strong profitability levels, despite meaningful investments into its growth, including the acquisition of Youfoodz in Australia, the launch of Norway, Italy and Japan, as well as a number of new production facilities across multiple geographies.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, HelloFresh saw ongoing customer growth across both segments (US and International), reaching a total of 7.2 million active customers. In addition to the Group’s order rates remaining strong and ahead of pre-pandemic levels, the average order value continued to increase. Q4 2021 Group revenue amounted to EUR 1.58 billion, marking the highest revenue quarter ever.

«2021 has been another year of successful growth and expansion for HelloFresh. We delivered very meaningful growth across both segments, despite a tough benchmark, given that 2020 was an unprecedented year of lockdowns», says Dominik Richter, co-founder and CEO of HelloFresh. «Over the course of 2021 we have made significant progress in ramping up our production capacity and infrastructure globally, while launching Norway, Italy and Japan as new markets, bringing Green Chef as an additional brand to the UK market, extending our HelloFresh Market offering of high quality curated add-ons to the US and acquiring Youfoodz in Australia. We are laying the foundations for reaching our mid-term targets and charging towards becoming the world’s leading integrated food solutions group», he continues.

Successful expansion into the ready-to-eat segment

With the acquisition of Factor in the US in 2020, HelloFresh initially announced its plans to expand into a new market segment, ready-to-eat. The acquisition marked the next step in HelloFresh’s growth plan to expand its total addressable market and tap into new customer segments, all while striving to become the world’s leading integrated food solutions group. In 2021, HelloFresh acquired Australia’s leading ready-to-eat company Youfoodz. Ever since, HelloFresh’s ready-to-eat section has seen significant triple digit growth and Factor has become the largest ready-to-eat meal company in the U.S. in terms of market share.

Outlook for FY 2022

HelloFresh will continue its strong investment into its long term growth capabilities, most notably the ongoing build out of its fulfillment infrastructure, and the strengthening of its tech and data platform. The Company will also continue to pursue and scale new geographies and brands in line with its long term growth strategy. Against this background, the Company expects revenue growth for the HelloFresh Group on a constant currency basis between 20 percent and 26 percent. The Company expects an adjusted Ebitda for the HelloFresh Group for the full year 2022 between EUR 500 million and EUR 580 million.

Positive full year free cash flow of EUR 181.3m

Despite significant investments into a number of growth initiatives, HelloFresh has produced a positive full year free cash flow of EUR 181.3m (excluding acquisitions) on Group level, resulting in a year end cash position of EUR 827.1m. This will allow the Company to execute on future growth plans and take advantage of capital allocation opportunities, while maintaining a strong cash position.