Interim Results
ASOS PLC
05 December 2007
FOR RELEASE
7.00am
5 December 2007
ASOS plc
('ASOS' or 'Group')
('a leading internet based fashion retailer')
INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30th SEPTEMBER 2007
Key Financial Results
* Revenues +83% to £31.8m
* Profit before Tax £2.4m (£0.3m 6 months to 30 September 2006)
* 1.6m registered users as at 2 December 2007 (1.1m as at 27th November 2006)
* Revenues for 9 weeks to 2 December +101%
* Confident of another excellent year's trading and record profits
Chief Executive's Statement
Results
I am delighted to report on the continuing strong growth of ASOS.com. Revenues
for the 6 months to 30 September 2007 were 83% ahead at £31.8m and the business
delivered a profit before tax of £2.4m, up from £0.3m the previous year.
Particularly pleasing is the increase in profit which has been delivered as a
result of gross margin improvements of 4.7% points compared to the same period
last year.
At 2 December 2007, ASOS.com had 1.6m registered users and, according to
Hitwise, ASOS.com remains the second most visited online fashion store in the UK
behind Next. In November 2007, we received 2.6m unique visitors.
Current Trading
Sales for the 9 weeks to 2nd December 2007 are 101% ahead year on year and as a
result sales for the year to date are 89% ahead. With several peak Christmas
trading weeks and the January sale still to come, it is too early to assess
whether this performance will continue for the remainder of the financial year.
The Market
The popularity of online shopping continues. The IMRG (Interactive Media in
Retail Group) is forecasting a 42% increase in online sales over the Christmas
period. 61% of UK homes now have Internet access and 84% of those have
Broadband.
Outlook
I am confident that the investments we have, and continue to make, will enable
ASOS to stay at the forefront of online fashion shopping in the UK.
A Christmas trading statement will be released at the end of January 2008.
ASOS plc
Nick Robertson, Chief Executive Tel: 020 7756 1000
Jon Kamaluddin, Finance Director
www.asos.com
Cubitt Consulting
Brian Coleman-Smith / Nicola Krafft / James Verstringhe Tel: 020 7367 5100
Seymour Pierce
Mark Percy / Nicola Marrin Tel: 020 7107 8000
Background note:
ASOS plc is an Internet Retail business, established in June 2000 and admitted
to AIM in October 2001. ASOS.com is the UK's largest independent online fashion
and beauty retailer. Aimed primarily at Internet savvy 16-34 year olds, ASOS
offers over 6,500 fashion products across womenswear, menswear, footwear,
accessories, jewellery and beauty. ASOS.com attracts over 2.6m unique visitors a
month and, as at 2 December 2007, it had 1.6m registered users.
Unaudited Consolidated (Condensed) Income Statement
for the six months ended 30 September 2007
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months to 6 months to 12 months to
30 September 30 September 31 March
2007 2006 2007
£'000 £'000 £'000
Revenue 31,806 17,374 42,614
Cost of sales (17,436) (10,430) (24,488)
Gross profit 14,370 6,944 18,126
Administrative expenses (12,097) (6,772) (15,262)
Insurance proceeds - 570 570
Goodwill impairment - - (188)
Operating profit 2,273 742 3,246
Finance income 145 53 124
Profit before tax 2,418 795 3,370
Taxation (745) (233) (951)
Profit after tax 1,673 562 2,419
Profit after tax on - 45 65
discontinued operations
Profit for the period 1,673 607 2,484
Earnings per Share
Basic 2.3p 0.84p 3.4p
Diluted 2.2p 0.80p 3.3p
Unaudited Consolidated (Condensed) Balance Sheet
as at 30 September 2007
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
30 September 30 September 31 March
2007 2006 2007
£'000 £'000 £'000
Non current assets
Goodwill 1,060 1,248 1,060
Property, plant and equipment 2,974 1,687 2,086
Deferred tax asset 560 411 490
4,594 3,346 3,636
Current assets
Inventories 8,231 5,202 5,683
Trade and other receivables 2,791 1,926 1,669
Cash and cash equivalents 5,857 1,160 5,379
16,879 8,288 12,731
Current liabilities (11,834) (5,453) (7,982)
Net current assets 5,045 2,835 4,749
Net assets 9,639 6,181 8,385
Called up share capital 2,548 2,520 2,544
Share premium 3,185 3,259 3,128
EBT own shares (943) - (236)
Retained earnings 4,849 402 2,949
Total shareholders' funds 9,639 6,181 8,385
Unaudited Consolidated (Condensed) Cash Flow Statement
for the six months ended 30 September 2007
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
6 months to 6 months to 12 months to
30 September 30 September 31 March
2007 2006 2007
£'000 £'000 £'000
Cash generated from operations 2,344 (1,923) 3,116
Net cash from returns on 145 53 124
investment and servicing of
finance
Net cash outflow from investing (1,301) (887) (1,578)
activities
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from (647) 28 (87)
financing activities
Net (decrease)/increase in cash (63) 146 60
from discontinued operations
Net Increase/(decrease) in cash 478 (2,583) 1,635
and cash equivalents
Unaudited Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
for the six months ended 30 September 2007
Share Share Retained EBT shares Total
capital premium earnings
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Balance as at 1 April 2007 2,544 3,128 2,949 (236) 8,385
Shares alloted in the 4 57 61
period
Purchase of shares by EBT (707) (707)
Share options charge 227 227
Profit for the period 1,673 1,673
Balance as at 30 September 2,548 3,185 4,849 (943) 9,639
2007
Notes to the Financial Statements
1 The interim accounts for the six months ended 30 September 2007 are unaudited
and do not constitute statutory accounts in accordance with section 240 of the
Companies Act 1985. The financial information for the six months ended 30
September 2006 has not been audited but has been extracted from the IFRS
compliant financial statements for the twelve months ended 31 March 2007.The
auditors gave an unqualified report on these financial statements. A copy of
those financial statements have been filed with the registrar of companies.
2 Segmental Analysis
6 months to 6 months to 12 months to
30 September 30 September 31 March
2007 2006 2007
£'000 £'000 £'000
Revenue
Geographical analysis of
revenue by origin
UK 28,585 15,448 38,127
North America 288 296 568
Rest of the world 2,933 1,630 3,919
31,806 17,374 42,614
Revenue represents the value of supplies and services rendered by the group
during the period stated net of Value Added Tax.
3 As announced in the final results for the twelve months to 31 March 2007, revenue
now includes postage & packaging receipts which have previously been offset
against costs. Revenue for the six months to 30 September 2006 has been adjusted
to reflect this presentational change increasing revenue and cost of sales by
£1.7m and £1.4m respectively and increasing administration expenses by £0.3m.
There is no impact to profit before tax.
4 Earnings per share
The calculation of earnings per share is based on
the following:
6 months to 6 months to 12 months to
30 September 30 September 31 March
2007 2006 2007
£'000 £'000 £'000
Profit attributable to 1,673 607 2,484
shareholders
Weighted average number of shares
For basic earnings per share 72,801,013 71,964,017 72,089,825
For diluted earnings per share 76,213,048 75,724,481 75,522,076
5 Discontinued operations
The company's subsidiary undertaking Entertainment Marketing (UK) Ltd ceased
trading on 31 March 2007 and was shown as a discontinued operation in the final
results for the twelve months to 31 March 2007. The comparatives for the six
months to 30 September 2006 have been adjusted to reflect this presentational
change.
6 The interim report will be posted to all shareholders of the company and copies
will be available upon application to ASOS Plc, Greater London House, Hampstead
Road, London, NW1 7FB
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange