👉 Background: BWX is the ASX-listed skincare brand that owns products like Sukin, Flora & Fauna as well as a large chunk of Zoe Foster Blakes' Go-To brand. Like many retailers, BWX had a delightful two-year period during the pandemic.

👉 What happened: But like many retailers, it has been smashed by a drop in consumer spending. BWX was expected to release its financial results in August… but it delayed their release due to a dispute with its auditors.

👉 What else: And this week, finally, BWX released its long-delayed results for 2022.

• It reported a $335 million loss, mainly due to revaluations of its business.
  
• It acknowledged that it had overstated revenue earned in 2021
• It reduced its earnings guidance for the 2023 financial year

And as a result, BWX's share price dropped by over 50%.

What's the key learning?

💡An earnings guidance is an official prediction of a company’s expected financial performance in the future. It's effectively looking into a crystal ball and saying “this is where we think we’ll be in the next 6 or 12 months".

💡This guidance helps investors get a sense of how to value the company. But if you’re going to give a guidance, you need to have a reasonable basis for those numbers…otherwise it may be considered to be misleading, which comes with some pretty hefty legal consequences.

💡After working with the auditors for the past four months, BWX has majorly reduced its guidance for the 2023 financial year - so it's no surprise that five directors have moved on from BWX or been asked to step down since August.

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