Trading Statement

RNS Number : 8812I

ASOS PLC

05 June 2014

 



5 June 2014

ASOS plc ("the Company")

Global Online Fashion Destination

Trading Statement for the three months ended 31 May 2014

	Three months to 31 May				Nine months to 31 May
£'000s	2014	2013	Increase	CCY^ increase	2014	2013	Increase	CCY^ increase
UK retail sales	91,880	64,347	43%	43%	273,920	201,926	36%	36%
US retail sales	24,765	21,255	17%	28%	71,514	56,806	26%	31%
EU retail sales	64,710	47,215	37%	42%	192,336	124,672	54%	52%
ROW retail sales	61,600	60,796	1%	16%	177,504	162,472	9%	20%
Total International retail sales	151,075	129,266	17%	28%	441,354	343,950	28%	33%
Total retail sales	242,955	193,613	25%	33%	715,274	545,876	31%	34%
Total group revenues*	248,081	197,199	26%	34%	729,807	556,930	31%	34%

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

^On constant exchange rate basis

Three months to 31 May 2014 highlights

·    Retail sales +25% year on year (UK +43%, International +17%)

·    International retail sales 62% of total (67% last year)

·    Retail gross margin down c.370bps on prior year

·    8.6 million active customers* at 31 May 2014 (+32% year on year)

·    Strong balance sheet and cash position

*Defined as having shopped in the last 12 months

Nick Robertson, CEO, commented:

"Retail sales for the quarter were strong, increasing by 25% (+33% at constant exchange rates) with particularly strong growth in the UK of 43%. However, Sterling's continued strengthening has resulted in a slowdown in our international sales growth to 17% (+28% at constant exchange rates).

The resultant higher mix of UK and European sales, with lower retail margins, together with increased levels of promotional activity, leads us to reduce our EBIT margin guidance to c.4.5% from c.6.5% for the current financial year.   

Whilst our profit performance for this financial year is not what we had hoped for due to an unusual combination of factors, our accelerated investment in technology and infrastructure to support our £2.5bn sales ambition is progressing and capex remains within guided levels. All customer metrics - active customers, new customers, order frequency and units per basket - are positive and we are totally focussed on rolling out the ASOS business model globally as the world's leading online fashion destination for 20-somethings."

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 [e-mail].

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: [phone]
Nick Robertson, Chief Executive
Nick Beighton, Finance Director Greg Feehely, Head of Investor Relations
Instinctif Partners	Tel: [phone]
Matthew Smallwood / Justine Warren / Jamie Ramsay
JPMorgan Cazenove	Tel: [phone]
Luke Bordewich / Gina Gibson
Numis Securities	Tel: [phone]
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 83 million visits per month (May 2013: 69 million) and as at 31 May 2014 had 8.6 million active customers¹ (31 May 2013: 6.5 million), of which 3.3 million were located in the UK and 5.3 million were located in our international territories (31 May 2013: 2.7 million in the UK and 3.8 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.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%	91,880	43%			273,920	36%
US retail sales	32,253	28%	14,496	41%	24,765	17%			71,514	26%
EU retail sales	87,295	69%	40,331	57%	64,710	37%			192,336	54%
ROW retail sales	82,450	19%	33,454	3%	61,600	1%			177,504	9%
International retail sales	201,998	38%	88,281	29%	151,075	17%			441,354	28%
Total retail sales	335,665	38%	136,654	26%	242,955	25%			715,274	31%

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 

 

END

 

 

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