Mecca accounts show revenue hits $1.2bn at Jo Horgan’s private beauty retailer

Revenue at Australia’s biggest beauty business Mecca is up, but founders Jo Horgan and Peter Wetenhall did not pay themselves a cent despite taking home $32m in previous years.

Demand for Mecca’s make-up and cosmetics is surging.

Australia’s biggest beauty business Mecca has reported record annual revenue of $1.2bn in 2023, elevating it to the ranks of the market’s billion-dollar turnover businesses.

The Jo Horgan-founded success story lodged its financials for the 2023 calendar year on Wednesday, exceeding 2022’s $971m haul.

Mecca’s net profit also rose, to $27.8m from $26.9m.

However, Ms Horgan and husband Peter Wetenhall, who are both directors of Mecca, did not pay themselves any dividends according to the accounts filed to the corporate regulator after reporting a $12m payday in 2022 and a cool $20m the year before that.

Mecca founder Jo Horgan. Picture: Liz Sunshine

Since the launch of its single store in the late 1990s in Melbourne’s South Yarra, Mecca’s success has made Ms Horgan one of the country’s richest women.

Together with Mr Wetenhall, the founders are worth $807m according to The Australian’s Richest 250 list.

Mecca’s 2023 accounts were late by about one year, and the company’s 2024 accounts are also now due.

Asked when they will be filed, a Mecca spokeswoman said “in due course”. She declined to comment about the financial performance of the business.

As a large proprietary company, ASIC previously noted Mecca Brands should have lodged its accounts within four months of its financial reporting period, which was ruled off at December 30, 2023.

“We note the concerns raised about Mecca Brands Pty Ltd not lodging its financial reports with ASIC and are considering those concerns,” an ASIC spokeswoman earlier told The Australian.

Plans for one of the company’s most ambitious projects — a flagship store in Melbourne on Bourke St, featuring a “Meccaversity” auditorium for lectures, salon and apothecary in a heritage listed building — has hit a speed bump.

The site was meant to open by May, but Mecca’s spokeswoman said it will open “later this year”.

And further pointed out: “The Melbourne flagship is our biggest project ever, and naturally, when you’re building one of the world’s largest beauty stores, there are bound to be a few challenges along the way. We’re looking forward to opening our doors later this year.”

Mecca’s accounts show the company also took on an extra $70m debt in 2023, increasing borrowings from $254m to $324m.

The future ownership of Mecca is an endless source of speculation. Ms Horgan has contemplated selling, according to a February report in The Australian’s DataRoom column.

However, the on-again, off-again sale talk has been disputed by the company.

Ms Horgan told former Domino’s CEO Don Meij in a podcast that being a private company is one of the best advantages available to a business.

“I’m a huge believer in the joy of if you can keep a company private it gives you enormous leeway to make counterintuitive decisions all the way through, and you can take such a long term lens in your decision-making,” she said in the episode, released in April.

There are few publicly-listed reference points to compare Mecca’s financial performance with.

One global comparison, Sephora — which was founded in France and opened in Sydney in 2014 — reported a loss before tax of $13.6m in the 2023 calendar year for its Australian operation.

Its revenue was a fraction of Mecca’s at $313.9m, up from $246.1m the year before.

Rival Adore Beauty recorded $195.7m in revenue for the 12 months to June 30, 2024, and is yet to best its financial year 2022 result of $199.7m. That being so, Adore’s earnings last year were just $4.8m.

Originally published as Mecca accounts show revenue hits $1.2bn at Jo Horgan’s private beauty retailer