In 2009, the company brought in $39.8 million in revenue for $1 million of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
By the end of the 2013 financial year, revenue had grown to an impressive $244.1 million. But the company made a $2 million loss.
The company’s largest profit in recent years was in 2011 – when it made $10.5 million EBITDA on $98.3 million in revenue.
Based on these results, it’s unlikely the company’s three shareholders (majority shareholder and founder Kevin King, Sali, and former managing director Michael Saba) are rolling in it. At least, not yet.
This isn’t to suggest there hasn’t been any success to show.
The Swisse brand is recognised by 95% of Australians, Sali said. It recently became the undisputed market leader in Australia.
Cashflow has been a problem in recent years, Sali has previously admitted. At yesterday’s presentation, he spruiked the company’s new financing. Swisse has recently secured a $70 million line of credit from Goldman Sachs.
“We’ve given ourselves the ability to spend in new markets,” Sali said.
The most distinctive thing about Swisse has been its heavy usage of celebrities (the company calls them brand “ambassadors”) in its marketing.
You’d think this would cost them a fortune.
But, Sali revealed, it doesn’t cost much more than hiring actors for its ads.
“Our ambassadors hit different target markets. It doesn’t cost much more than actors and we’ve found that having someone authentic connects better than that.
“We actually don’t sit in the top 50 advertisers in this country, even though a lot of people say we advertise a lot.
“What we do is we effectively advertise. We’ve beaten the metrics by applying some simple measures to event TV that people will watch live and not fast-forward the ads or change channels. We also make it highly relevant.”
This advertising sometimes has unexpected benefits.
The Ellen DeGeneres trip was intended to boost the brand’s presence in America through coverage on her widely-watched show. But the hype surrounding the trip in Australia helped push the brand into becoming the undisputed market leader, Sali said.
Sali also hinted at two business developments that he wasn’t yet at liberty to announce.
Firstly, he says the company has almost finalised a joint venture agreement with “one of the biggest consumer brands in the world” that should help it get into 40 countries.
Secondly, he said Swisse had just about signed a sponsorship deal with one of America’s most popular female tennis players. Your correspondent can’t think of anyone other than the Williams sisters who would fit the bill.
Myriam Robin is a reporter for SmartCompany and its sister site LeadingCompany. She has degrees in economics, international studies and journalism. She likes writing about businesses taking risks and doing new things.
