NewAge, Inc. announced record financial results for the first quarter of 2021, almost doubling its net revenue from the previous year’s quarter, with a 97% increase to $125.5 million, and a gross profit increase of 111% to $87.4 million. The acquisition of ARIIX strongly impacted these numbers.
“The first quarter saw accelerated top and bottom-line results as we focused on converging ARIIX and driving organic growth within our direct/social selling division,” said Brent Willis, Chief Executive Officer. “This on-trend, direct-to-consumer route to market is led by our hundreds of thousands of exclusive global Brand Partners using our social selling technology to disrupt the industry. Our direct/social selling business experienced a year-over-year sales increase of 128% in the quarter, fueled by record growth in Western Europe, Mexico and the United States.”
The company saw an improvement in its net operating loss, and attributes its net loss of $17.8 million to a non-cash loss from the change in fair value of the derivative liability associated with its ARIIX acquisition.
“Along with the double-digit organic growth we are experiencing, we believe we are also well positioned financially to pursue additional industry consolidation that will positively benefit our shareholders,” Willis said. “We have entered into a letter of intent to acquire Aliven in Japan, which is expected to further our momentum and immediately return positive EBITDA in this core market for NewAge. Given the global shift in consumer behavior, we believe the NewAge Social Selling Network™ coupled with our direct route-to-consumer market is the winning model within the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry. We intend to continue to expand that model throughout 2021, deliver further cost synergies accruing from the ARIIX acquisition, and pursue strategic acquisitions and collaboration opportunities that will drive value for all of our value-added stakeholders.”
The company ended Q1 with a total cash on hand of $102 million and $33 million in debt. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.9 million for the first quarter, compared with a negative $6.8 million in the same quarter of last year.
“Our first quarter results exceeded our internal expectations as we continue to make significant progress converging our companies and capturing both revenue and cost synergies,” Willis said. “Carrying this momentum forward, we expect continued strong results from operations in the second quarter and throughout the year as we build out additional platforms and programs for our global sales force. We believe we are stronger and better positioned than we have ever been, with differentiated health and wellness brands and an on-trend direct route-to-market, led by an army of more than 400,000 micro influencers and Brand Partners,”
