Trading Update

RNS Number : 5111C
ASOS PLC
18 March 2014
 



 

18 March 2014

 

ASOS plc ("the Company")

Global Online Fashion Destination

Trading Statement for the two months ended 28 February 2014

 


Two months to 28 February

 Six months to 28 February

£'000s

2014

Increase

2014

2013

Increase

UK retail sales

48,373

39,866

21%

182,040

137,579

32%

   US retail sales

14,496

10,271

41%

46,749

35,551

31%

   EU retail sales

40,331

25,677

57%

127,626

77,457

65%

   ROW retail sales

33,454

32,593

3%

115,904

101,676

14%

Total International retail sales

88,281

68,541

29%

290,279

214,684

35%

Total retail sales

136,654

108,407

26%

472,319

352,263

34%








Total group revenues*

139,159

110,512

26%

481,726

359,731

34%

* Includes retail sales, delivery receipts and third party revenues.

 

Two months to 28 February 2014 highlights

·    Retail sales +26% year on year (UK +21%, International +29%)

·    International retail sales 65% of total (63% last year)

·    Retail gross margin down c.30bps on prior year

 

Six months to 28 February 2014 highlights

·    Retail sales +34% year on year (UK +32%, International +35%)

·    International retail sales 61% of total (61% last year)

·    Retail gross margin up c.60bps on prior year

·    8.2 million active customers* at 28 February 2014 (+36% year on year)

·    Strong balance sheet and cash position

 

*Defined as having shopped in the last 12 months

 

Nick Robertson, CEO, commented:

"The Group delivered strong sales and margin growth over the first six months of the year (+34% and +60bps respectively) and we are now confident of achieving £1bn of sales in FY 2013/14.  We ended the period with 8.2 million active customers, a 36% increase year on year.

Retail sales for the two months to February were strong in all territories except Rest of World where we experienced adverse currency movements, notably in Australia and Russia.  

We have accelerated our investment in warehousing (both in the UK and Germany) and in IT, so that we will invest at least £68m in capital expenditure in the current year (previous guidance £55m.) This investment will increase our sales capacity to c£2.5bn per annum, over £1bn higher than previous guidance. Our investment in warehousing necessitated levels of dual running costs over the period which will ease from H2 2014/15.

 

This investment, as well as the investment in our China start-up, will reduce our EBIT margin for the current financial year to 31 August 2014 to c.6.5%.  This year these costs will be disproportionately borne in H1, resulting in a likely H1/H2 Profit before Tax split of approximately 30%/70%.

 

It has been an exceptionally busy period of activity at ASOS, with continued growth and accelerated investment, as we continue to build "The Number 1 Online Fashion Destination for 20 Somethings Globally." 

 

 

Analyst/Investor conference call:

ASOS will be hosting a conference call for analysts and investors at 8:30am (UK Time) today. Please call Jamie Ramsay at Instinctif Partners for dial-in details on 020 7457 2047 or email jamie.ramsay@instinctif.com.

A recording of this conference call will be available on the ASOS Plc investor centre website later today: http://www.asosplc.com/investors.aspx 

Photography:

Latest photography will be available at: http://www.asosplc.com/media/image-library.aspx

For further information:

ASOS plc

Tel: 020 7756 1000

Nick Robertson, Chief Executive


Nick Beighton, Finance Director

Greg Feehely, Head of Investor Relations






 

Instinctif Partners

 

Tel: 020 7457 2020

Matthew Smallwood / Justine Warren / Jamie Ramsay




 

JPMorgan Cazenove

 

Tel: 020 7742 4000

Luke Bordewich / Gina Gibson




 

Numis Securities

 

Tel:020 7260 1000

Alex Ham


 

Background note

ASOS is a global fashion destination for 20-somethings. We sell cutting-edge 'fast fashion' and offer a wide variety of fashion-related content, making ASOS.com the hub of a thriving fashion community. We sell over 75,000 branded and own-brand products through localised mobile and web experiences, delivering from our UK hub to almost every country in the world.

 

We tailor the mix of own-label, global and local brands sold through each of our nine local language websites: UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, Russia and China.

 

ASOS's websites attract 71 million visits per month (February 2013: 52 million) and as at 28 February 2014 had 8.2 million active customers1 (28 February 2013: 6.0 million), of which 3.2 million were located in the UK and 5.0 million were located in our international territories (28 February 2013: 2.5 million in the UK and 3.5 million internationally).

 

1 Defined as having shopped in the last 12 months

www.asos.com

www.asos.es

www.us.asos.com

www.asos.com/ru

www.asos.de

www.asos.com/cn

www.asos.fr

m.asos.com

www.asos.com/au

marketplace.asos.com

www.asos.it

fashionfinder.asos.com

 

Appendix 1

Retail sales by quarter for the year ending 31 August 2014

£'000s

Q11

YOY%

Q22

YOY%

Q3

YOY%

Q4

YOY%

YTD

 2013/14  

YOY%

UK retail sales

133,667

37%

48,373

21%





182,040

32%

   US retail sales

32,253

28%

14,496

41%





46,749

31%

   EU retail sales

87,295

69%

40,331

57%





127,626

65%

   ROW retail sales

82,450

19%

33,454

3%





115,904

14%

International retail sales

201,998

38%

88,281

29%





290,279

35%

Total retail sales

335,665

38%

136,654

26%





472,319

34%

 

Retail sales by quarter for the year ending 31 August 2013

£'000s

Q11

YOY%

Q22

YOY%

Q3

YOY%

Q4

YOY%

 

 2012/13

YOY%

UK retail sales

97,713

28%

39,866

23%

64,347

39%

74,101

49%

276,027

34%

   US retail sales

25,280

56%

10,271

48%

21,255

59%

20,872

59%

77,678

57%

   EU retail sales

51,780

29%

25,677

53%

47,215

56%

53,036

73%

177,708

51%

   ROW retail sales

69,083

39%

32,593

34%

60,796

38%

59,922

26%

222,394

35%

International retail sales

146,143

38%

68,541

43%

129,266

48%

133,830

47%

477,780

44%

Total retail sales

243,856

34%

108,407

35%

193,613

45%

207,931

47%

753,807

40%

 

Retail sales by quarter for the year ending 31 August 2012

£'000s

Q11

YOY%

Q22

YOY%

Q3

YOY%

Q4

YOY%

2011/12

YOY%

UK retail sales

76,581

11%

32,386

4%

46,437

8%

49,854

15%

205,258

10%

   US retail sales

16,209

154%

6,928

66%

13,351

78%

13,097

65%

49,585

91%

   EU retail sales

40,118

37%

16,728

29%

30,224

27%

30,678

22%

117,748

29%

   ROW retail sales

49,654

196%

24,317

106%

43,912

71%

47,413

53%

165,296

94%

International retail sales

105,981

102%

47,973

66%

87,487

54%

91,188

42%

332,629

64%

Total retail sales

182,562

50%

80,359

34%

133,924

34%

141,042

31%

537,887

38%

 

1Four months to 31 December

2 Two months to 28 February 

 


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
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