THG rises after e-commerce firm inks partnership with beauty retailer Maximo Group

By Scott Kanowsky 

Investing.com -- Shares in THG Holdings PLC (LON:THG) jumped by more than 7% on Thursday, climbing up to near the top of the pan-European Stoxx 600, after the e-commerce retail firm announced a decade-long partnership with beauty brand Maximo Group.

In a statement on Thursday, THG said the agreement will initially focus on bringing Maximo's online businesses All Beauty and Fragrance Direct to the platform, which is known as THG Ingenuity.

Maximo will then have access to warehousing and fulfillment services provided by Ingenuity from the second quarter of 2023.

The move is expected to add more than £150 million (£1=$1.2466) in gross merchandise value to Ingenuity annually, THG noted.

"This represents the early fruits of our focus on larger enterprise customers and underlines our position as the online partner of choice for the prestige beauty industry," said THG Chief Executive Officer Matthew Moulding.

Analysts at Liberum argued that the deal was an "important positive" for THG - the U.K.-based company formerly known as The Hut Group - because it shows that Ingenuity's ongoing shift in focus to bigger clients is beginning to produce successful results.

“We remain hold for now but further Ingenuity wins, and more clarity on the economics of the contracts with bigger enterprise clients, would make us more positive,” the Liberum analysts said.