Purely Byron, the skincare firm backed by Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth, is in administration

Purely Byron, the skincare firm co-founded by Elsa Pataky and part owned by her husband Chris Hemsworth, has been placed in administration.

Purely Byron, the skincare company co-founded by Elsa Pataky and part owned by her husband Chris Hemsworth and the Andrew Forrest-backed BWX, has been placed in administration.

It’s more bad news for the ASX-listed BWX, which swung from a $17.5m profit in FY2021 to a loss of $336.9m the following year, backed up with a further $100.8m loss for the most recent half year ended December 31.

Both results were heavily impacted by writedowns.

In the most recent half year, revenue at BWX fell 18.4 per cent to $79.7m, with the company, which sells Sukin, Andalou, Mineral Fusion and Zoe Foster Blake’s Go-To brands, releasing its results months late, precipitating trade in its shares to be halted for a period.

The company did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, and did not announce the fact that Purely Byron had been placed in administration to the ASX.

In a previous release to the ASX the company has said that the business was not material to its overall performance.

BWX shares closed 7.9 per cent higher at 20.5c on Tuesday, well down on the 12-month high of $2.26 and also well below the $1.10 per share which Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Tattarang investment vehicle paid for a then $30m, 16.9 per cent stake in the company last year.

BWX owns 51.1 per cent of Go-To, which it paid $89.9m for and funded with a capital raising in late 2021 priced at $4.85 per share.

BWX in its entirety is now worth less than $40m.

The company’s most recent half year financial report noted that the loss posted was influenced heavily by a $60.8m writedown of intangibles and plant and equipment, including a $2.7m writedown against Purely Byron.

BWX said in the report released in late January that its ability to trade effectively had been limited by cash flow issues, with a resultant, temporary increase in out of stock products and a need to “reduce promotions to conserve cash and protect stock levels’’.

At the time the company downgraded its expected full-year EBITDA from $25m-$30m to $10m-$15m, excluding the impact of one-offs.

The company also said on January 31 it was progressing its debt refinancing and had received a waiver of its debt covenants through to February 28, 2023.

“We are in the process of securing a longer-term restructuring of our finance facilities to seek further funding in the second half,’’ the company said.

It has not since updated the market on its refinancing program.

BWX owns a 47.4 per cent stake in Purely Byron, with actor Chris Hemsworth’s Byron Bay Ist Management owning a 3.2 per cent stake.

Directors Ido Leffler and Lance Kalish own slightly more than 22 per cent each, company documents indicate.

Purely Byron’s website says the company released its first collection, Divine Ritual, in 2021 followed by its Native Sunrise Blend collection.

The company produces a range of skincare products with its website saying Pataky developed an interest in the native botanicals which grow around the Byron Bay area, and the idea for a skincare range was born.

“I learnt that some of them could be clinically-proven to effect change on the skin,’’ Pataky is quoted as saying on the Purely Byron website.

“An idea for a locally made skincare range was born.’’

Elsa Pataky starring as JJ Collins in Interceptor. Picture: Netflix

The company was placed in administration on March 10, with Cameron Gray and Justin Holzman of DW Advisory appointed as administrators.

Mr Gray has been contacted for further details of the administration.

Pataky told News Corp Australia last year she was a co-founder of Purely Byron, with Jacqueline Rosen Weisz the chief executive and Kate Norbiato the brand and product director.

“We discovered the amazing range of powerful botanicals that you have here, and their effectiveness, and then we were able to clinically prove those,” Pataky said last year.

“So I wanted to create something totally done in Byron, capturing that essence.”

Pataky and Hemsworth moved to Byron Bay from Hollywood with their three children in 2014.

The Spanish-born actor said last year a make-up collection and a sunscreen were in the works and a physical spa space in Byron Bay was something she’d like to bring to fruition in the future.

On the acting from Pataky is best known for her role as Elena Neves in the Fast and Furious movie franchise, while her husband is best known for portraying Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Also yesterday Citigroup emerged as a significant shareholder on the BWX register, with a 5.04 per cent stake in the business.

Purely Byron did not repond to a request for comment.