sources: Pixabay
Nature’s Sunshine reported its fourth quarter and full year financial results for 2021. The company’s net sales in the fourth quarter rose 15.9% over the previous year’s quarter to $117.9 million, the sixth consecutive quarter of record net sales for the company. These record quarters culminated in a company record for annual net sales of $444.1 million in 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter increased 54.7% to $11.6 million, while the full year adjusted EBITDA increased 36.6% year-over-year to $49.4 million. – 2021 was another record-breaking year for Nature’s Sunshine, as net sales and adjusted EBITDA reached historic highs. This was our sixth consecutive quarter of historic record-breaking growth, driven by effective implementation of our five global growth strategies. Importantly, 2021 was our first full-year implementing the new strategies, and while they have clearly revitalized the business, it’s still early and we believe we’re on the front-end of the growth curve. Overall, we’re ahead of schedule and delivering strong results across all our operating geographies and channels – said Terrence Moorehead, CEO of Nature’s Sunshine.
The fourth quarter experienced higher costs in service fees in China and direct selling costs associated with increased sales. Those impacts, along with sales growth initiatives in some markets, led to an increase in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses in the fourth quarter of 2021, totaling $45.4 million. These SG&A expenses, as a percentage of net sales, were 38.2% in the fourth quarter, compared to 37.1% in the same quarter of 2020. SG&A expenses in 2021 were $154.1 million, up from $131.3 million in 2020. As a percentage of net sales, these SG&A costs were 34.7%.
The company attributes its record net sales in 2021 to its continued business transformation initiatives, the launch of new products and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in key markets. Gross margin for the company in 2021 increased 30 basis points to 74%, a slight increase over 2020.
Net cash provided by operating activities was slightly down from 2020, ending the year at $34.6 million. The company also repurchased 439,000 shares at a total cost of $7.4 million. Cash and cash equivalents in 2021 were $86.2 million with an outstanding debt of $2.4 million.
– Looking forward to 2022, we continue to invest in our digital, personalization, and manufacturing capabilities to improve the customer experience and will strengthen our branding to drive customer growth. We believe an intensified focus on our five global growth strategies will continue to move our business in the right direction and help us gain traction, over time. Our global strategies are an important aspect of our capital allocation plan and we will continue to invest ahead of growth to accelerate market penetration – Moorehead said.
LR Global Holding GmbH, the social selling parent company for direct selling organization LR Health & Beauty, reported a 4% year-over-year increase in group sales in fiscal 2021, bringing total group sales to EUR 296.2 million. Fourth quarter sales reached EUR 75.5 million, a near-record result for the company. EBITDA for 2021 was up over the previous year to EUR 41.6 million and the company met its fiscal 2021 guidance.
– We successfully continued our positive business development in 2021 and achieved new record sales despite the challenging market conditions. Thanks to the early restocking of our inventories, we were able to meet the demand for our products in the final quarter as usual. Christmas business was very good overall and also raised more than EUR 105,000 for the LR Global Kids Fund as part of our charity commitment. Nevertheless, at the beginning of 2022, we see a continued tense situation on the global procurement market and the trend of rising costs for raw materials and energy. In the course of strict cost and resource management, we will focus our attention on maneuvering the LR Group through these difficult waters in the best possible way – said Dr. Andreas Laabs, CFO and COO of LR Global Holding GmbH.
LR Group began its efforts to tap into the Asian market in 2021 with a launch in South Korea, and also expanded its product categories with new fragrance blends and a new fitness brand. – In the year under review, we made further progress in creating the structures for the future growth of the LR Group and strengthening our capital market capability. On the one hand, LR Health & Beauty SE was established as the new parent company of the LR Group. Secondly, the shareholder transferred the shareholder loans as a contribution to the free capital reserve of LR Global Holding GmbH in November. As a result of this reclassification, the equity capitalization has improved significantly as of the reporting date – comments Dr. Laabs.
eXp World Holdings, Inc., the holding company for eXp Realty, released its fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial results, revealing a story of skyrocketing growth and enormous gains. Annual revenue in 2021 for the company reached $3.8 billion, a 110% increase over the previous year. Fourth quarter revenue also saw advances of 77% over the same period in 2020 to reach $1.1 billion. Gross profit during the fourth quarter totaled $83.1 million, a 65% increase over the previous year’s quarter, and $296 million for the full year.
– 2021 was another year of tremendous growth for eXp, as our core focus on innovation enabled us to welcome nearly 30,000 new agents across six continents to eXp. As real estate professionals increasingly turn to technology-based solutions for productivity and collaboration, our cloud-based platform has given us a first-mover advantage to scale our brokerage at the fastest rate in the industry. We attract top agents that value freedom, compensation and community – said Glenn Sanford, founder, chairman and CEO of eXp World Holdings.
Agents and brokers on the platform increased dramatically during 2021, ending the year with 71,137 agents, a 72% increase over 2020. Real estate transactions closed were up 86% from the previous year and real estate transaction volume increased 116% to $156.1 billion in 2021.
On a year-over-year basis, earnings per diluted share increased 143% to $0.51 and adjusted EBITDA grew 35% to $78 million. The fourth quarter was plagued with a $10 million one-time legal settlement, but when excluding that, adjusted EBITDA actually increased 52% to $88 million in 2021 and 39% to $23.1 million during the fourth quarter.
– In 2021, we achieved a record $3.8 billion in revenue by focusing on our growing, global community of real estate agents – added Jeff Whiteside, CFO and chief collaboration officer of eXp World Holdings. – Our year-over-year increase in transaction volume proves that the eXp model is resonating with top-producing agents and our ability to maintain this momentum underscores the strength of our competitive position. Reinvesting incremental cash flows generated by our business in products, services and technologies that further enhances the eXp platform for agents remains a priority as we scale, both within our existing markets and globally.