A beauty company that appointed a director to represent nature on its board last year has slumped to a loss and its sales were cut after it increased prices because of a rise in costs.
Faith in Nature, which is based in Greater Manchester and sells soap and haircare products, as well as household cleaners and shampoo for dogs, said that by taking "the right long-term decisions" its short-term profits have been hit.
The company added that it is "confident in delivering the right balance between profitable growth with respect for nature and the planet".
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For the 12 months to June 30, 2022, Faith in Nature's turnover fell from £15.7m to £14.8m while it went from a pre-tax profit of £228,189 to a loss of £774,290.
At the end of its prior financial year, Faith in Nature said it was targeting a turnover of £20m for the 12 months to June 30, 2022.
The firm's latest financial figures, which have been filed with Companies House, come ahead of Faith in Nature launching a fundraising bid on Crowdcube.
Last September, Faith in Nature hit the headlines when it appointed a director to represent nature on its board.
A statement signed off by the board said: "In sales overall we were actually ahead of the categories in which we operated, performing well across the high street, multiple retailers and with our wholesale customers and it's fair to say that the second half of the year was better than the first, as consumer confidence grew coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"In order to secure our longer term profitability we faced into some restructuring decisions with our international and online channels around our distributor base and promotional mix.
"Finally, and to offset some of the anticipated cost pressures, we implemented a cost price increase in the second half of the year.
"Whilst these were the right decisions for the longer term it impacted our growth trajectory and we are happy to report our sales are now beginning to rebuild and in line with our revised expectations.
"Taking the right long-term decisions have impacted our short-term profitability as we continued to face increased cost pressures stemming from a worsening economic situation, the war in Ukraine and a channel mix drift towards customers with lower prices and higher promotional costs.
"Despite the headwinds we have taken the opportunity to introduce new processes around forecasting, budgeting and reshaped many of our internal departments aligned behind a new existing company strategy.
"The board are motivated and are confident in delivering the right balance between profitable growth with respect for nature and the planet."
