BWX collapses, enters into receivership

On March 23, BWX halted trading on the ASX, indicating something was coming for the business. This week the company confirmed it has entered voluntary admission in an announcement stating, “a range of issues have continued to impact the Australian operations of BWX, including customer destocking and inventory and working capital issues necessitating the Director’s decision to appoint Administrators.

The Directors believe entering Voluntary Administration will help progress the restructuring process already underway with new management at BWX and give the company the best chance of future profitability.”

BWX owns a range of natural skincare and health brands including Sukin, Andalou Naturals, Mineral Fusion, Nourished Life and vegan and cruelty-free marketplace Flora & Fauna. Recently, the company acquired a 50.1 percent stake in Go-To, a plant based skincare and beauty company for $89 million in December 2021.

BWX was placed into voluntary admission on Monday, April 3 with FTI Consulting under the administration of Kate Warwick, Joe Hansell, and Kelly Trenfield.

This morning, April 4, saw The Commonwealth Bank appointed as receivers as the collapsed BWX fell into receivership following the announcement of voluntary administration and has around $120 million net bank debt.

The administration effects only BWX’s Australian operations and does not include Go-To, however in BWX’s trading update, the company admitted it was seeking buyers for its majority share in Go-To.

In February, BWX shared its financial results for H1 FY23 which indicated the company was in trouble. It reported a revenue of $79.7 million, a decline of 18.4 percent on the prior corresponding period, and an EBITDA loss of $29.7 million, a stark contrast to H1 FY22’s $5.4 million profit. Additionally, the Group recorded significant one-off costs related to restructuring initiatives as well as non-cash impairments leading to a loss after tax of $100.8m.

The company attributed several factors to impacting these results including: customer de-stocking in key channels reduced revenues and associated cash receipts within the Australian operations, lower cash receipts and incumbent capital commitment outlays for the Clayton manufacturing facility, inability to maintain inventory at optimum levels, resulting out-of-stock issues in business units, decreased marketing and promotional activity, and more operational issues.

Following the results release in February, Mr. Thinus Keeve was appointed Group CEO and Managing Director of BWX Limited, with Mr. Rory Gration departing with immediate effect who held the role for just one year. Mr Keeve is yet to comment on the collapse as of Tuesday afternoon.

The e-commerce landscape is changing. With a Power Retail Switched On membership, you get access to current e-commerce revenue and forecasting, traffic levels, average conversion rate, payment preferences and more!