Trading Statement

RNS Number : 9595B

ASOS PLC

13 January 2015

 

13 January 2015

ASOS plc ("the Company")

Global Online Fashion Destination

Trading Statement for the six weeks to 9 January 2015

Six weeks to 9 January 2015 highlights

·    Retail sales +15% (UK +27%, International +5%)

·    Strong operational performance over peak trading period

·    International retail sales 51% of total (56% last year)

·    Retail gross margin down c.200 bps on prior year

·    Zonal pricing roll-out on track

·    Strong balance sheet and cash position

Nick Robertson, CEO, commented:

"Trading over the last six weeks was in line with expectations at +15%, with growth accelerating over Q1 as anticipated. UK sales remained strong at +27%. Improved international sales at +5% indicates an initial encouraging response to our planned price investments, also reflected in the retail gross margin performance which is in line with expectations for the period.

Our roll out of zonal pricing continues to be on track. Our programme of investment in our IT platform and our distribution capability are also progressing well.

Guidance for the outcome for the year in terms of both sales and EBIT margin remains unchanged.

The Q2 update covering the three month period to 28 February 2015 will be released on 12 March 2015".

For further information:

ASOS plc	Tel: [phone]
Nick Robertson, Chief Executive
Nick Beighton, Chief Financial Officer / Chief Operating Officer Greg Feehely, Head of Investor Relations
Instinctif Partners	Tel: [phone]
Matthew Smallwood / Justine Warren / Guy Scarborough
JPMorgan Cazenove	Tel: [phone]
Luke Bordewich
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 80,000 branded and own-brand products through localised mobile and web experiences, delivering from our fulfilment centres in the UK, US, Europe and China 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 attracted 98 million visits during December 2014 (December 2013: 87 million) and as at 31 December 2014 had 9.1 million active customers¹ (31 December 2013: 7.9 million), of which 3.7 million were located in the UK and 5.4 million were located in our international territories (31 December 2013: 3.1 million in the UK and 4.8 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

 

END

 

 

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