Trading Statement

RNS Number : 8520C

ASOS PLC

25 January 2018

 

25 January 2018

ASOS plc ("the Company")

Trading Statement for the four months ended 31 December 2017

	Four months to 31 December
£m1	2017	2016	Reported Increase	CCY2 Increase
UK retail sales	300.9	244.0	23%	23%
US retail sales	102.4	82.7	24%	28%
EU retail sales	235.2	165.8	42%	34%
ROW retail sales	151.9	113.2	34%	32%
International retail sales	489.5	361.7	35%	32%
Total retail sales	790.4	605.7	30%	28%
Total group revenue3	808.4	621.3	30%	28%

¹All numbers subject to rounding throughout this document 

²Constant currency is calculated to take account of hedged rate movements on hedged sales and spot rate movements on unhedged sales

³Includes retail sales, delivery receipts and third party revenues

Highlights include:

• Retail sales grew strongly, +30% on a reported basis and +28% in constant currency driven by our unique and differentiated product and proposition
• Accelerated performance in the UK with retail sales growth of +23% in a challenging market
• Continued strong customer engagement: active customers⁴ +19%, average basket value +3%, average order frequency⁵ +8%, conversion +20bps
• Total orders placed 20.2m, +30% year on year
• Retail gross margin up 80bps on prior year in line with plan

Guidance:

• No change to FY18 financial guidance, however full year capital expenditure is now expected to be around the upper end of the previously indicated range of £200-220m

⁴Defined as having shopped in the last twelve months as at 31 December 2017

⁵Calculated as last twelve months' total orders divided by active customers

Nick Beighton, CEO, commented:

"I'm pleased to report a strong performance during the period including peak. We achieved an exceptional performance in the UK, whilst momentum in international sales continued. We acquired 2.6 million active customers year on year and saw encouraging movements across all key customer KPIs. 

Velocity in our technology programmes continued, with a record number of releases. Our customer proposition was further enhanced in the U.K. with the launch of Try Before You Buy and ASOS Instant, our same day delivery proposition.

Following this strong start to the year, we remain confident in our full year guidance and delivery of our planned investments in infrastructure to support our global ambitions."

Investor and Analyst conference call:

ASOS will be hosting a conference call for analysts and investors at 8.00am (UK Time) today. Please call Tom Berger at Instinctif Partners for dial-in details on 020 7457 2834 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 

For further information:

ASOS plc	Tel: [phone]
Nick Beighton, Chief Executive Officer
Helen Ashton, Chief Financial Officer Greg Feehely, Director of Investor Relations Website: www.asosplc.com/investors
Instinctif Partners	Tel: [phone]
Matthew Smallwood / Justine Warren / Tom Berger
JPMorgan Cazenove	Tel: [phone]
Michael Wentworth-Stanley / Bill Hutchings
Numis Securities	Tel: [phone]
Alex Ham / Luke Bordewich

Forward looking statements:

This announcement may include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements" (including words such as "believe", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "anticipate" and words of similar meaning). By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty since they relate to future events and circumstances, and actual results may, and often do, differ materially from any forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect management's view with respect to future events as at the date of this announcement. Save as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements in this announcement, whether following any change in its expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement.

Background note:

ASOS is a global fashion destination for 20-somethings. We sell cutting-edge fashion and offer a wide variety of fashion-related content, making ASOS.com the hub of a thriving fashion community. We sell over 87,000 branded and own-label products through localised mobile and web experiences, delivering from our fulfilment centres in the UK, US and Europe to almost every country in the world.

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

ASOS's websites attracted 174 million visits during December 2017 (December 2016: 139 million) and as at 31 December 2017 it had 16.0 million active customers¹ (31 December 2016: 13.4 million), of which 5.4 million were located in the UK and 10.6 million were located in our international territories (31 December 2016: 4.9 million in the UK and 8.5 million internationally).

¹Defined as having shopped in the last twelve months as at 31 December 2017

Appendix 1 - Retail sales growth by period in sterling

Year ending 31 August 2018

£m	P11	YOY%	P21	YOY%	P31	YOY%	P41	YOY%	2017/18 YTD	YOY%
UK retail sales	300.9	23%							300.9	23%
US retail sales	102.4	24%							102.4	24%
EU retail sales	235.2	42%							235.2	42%
ROW retail sales	151.9	34%							151.9	34%
International retail sales	489.5	35%							489.5	35%
Total retail sales	790.4	30%							790.4	30%

Year ended 31 August 2017

£m	P11	YOY%	P21	YOY%	P31	YOY%	P41	YOY%	2016/17	YOY%
UK retail sales	244.0	18%	96.8	16%	234.6	16%	122.8	10%	698.2	16%
US retail sales	82.7	66%	41.6	54%	94.4	38%	42.9	26%	261.6	46%
EU retail sales	165.8	49%	83.1	46%	196.6	41%	98.6	46%	544.1	45%
ROW retail sales	113.2	46%	62.0	88%	134.5	54%	62.9	31%	372.6	52%
International retail sales	361.7	52%	186.7	60%	425.5	44%	204.4	37%	1,178.3	47%
Total retail sales	605.7	36%	283.5	42%	660.1	32%	327.2	25%	1,876.5	34%

Year ended 31 August 2016²

£m	P11	YOY%	P21	YOY%	P31	YOY%	P41	YOY%	2015/16	YOY%
UK retail sales	206.2	25%	83.3	26%	203.1	28%	111.2	32%	603.8	27%
US retail sales	49.7	42%	27.1	38%	68.3	53%	34.1	67%	179.2	50%
EU retail sales	111.0	29%	56.9	14%	139.5	32%	67.5	30%	374.9	28%
ROW retail sales	77.4	3%	33.0	(5%)	87.4	16%	48.0	21%	245.8	9%
International retail sales	238.1	21%	117.0	12%	295.2	31%	149.6	34%	799.9	25%
Total retail sales	444.3	23%	200.3	18%	498.3	30%	260.8	33%	1,403.7	26%

¹Periods are as follows:

P1: four months to 31 December

P2: two months to 28/29 February

P3: four months to 30 June

P4: two months to 31 August

²Restated to remove the results of the discontinued operation in China

 

Appendix 2 - Retail sales growth by period at constant currency¹

Year ending 31 August 2018

£m	P12	YOY%	P22	YOY%	P32	YOY%	P42	YOY%	2017/18 YTD	YOY%
UK retail sales	300.9	23%							300.9	23%
US retail sales	102.4	28%							102.4	28%
EU retail sales	235.2	34%							235.2	34%
ROW retail sales	151.9	32%							151.9	32%
International retail sales	489.5	32%							489.5	32%
Total retail sales	790.4	28%							790.4	28%

Year ended 31 August 2017

£m	P12	YOY%	P22	YOY%	P32	YOY%	P42	YOY%	2016/17	YOY%
UK retail sales	244.0	18%	96.8	16%	234.6	16%	122.8	10%	698.2	16%
US retail sales	82.7	42%	41.6	34%	94.4	26%	42.9	21%	261.6	31%
EU retail sales	165.8	38%	83.1	36%	196.6	30%	98.6	36%	544.1	34%
ROW retail sales	113.2	44%	62.0	70%	134.5	41%	62.9	23%	372.6	42%
International retail sales	361.7	41%	186.7	45%	425.5	32%	204.4	28%	1,178.3	36%
Total retail sales	605.7	30%	283.5	33%	660.1	26%	327.2	21%	1,876.5	27%

Year ended 31 August 2016³

£m	P12	YOY%	P22	YOY%	P32	YOY%	P42	YOY%	2015/16	YOY%
UK retail sales	206.2	25%	83.3	26%	203.1	28%	111.2	32%	603.8	27%
US retail sales	49.7	35%	27.1	32%	68.3	45%	34.1	47%	179.2	40%
EU retail sales	111.0	40%	56.9	17%	139.5	22%	67.5	30%	374.9	28%
ROW retail sales	77.4	15%	33.0	-	87.4	17%	48.0	20%	245.8	14%
International retail sales	238.1	29%	117.0	14%	295.2	25%	149.6	29%	799.9	25%
Total retail sales	444.3	27%	200.3	19%	498.3	26%	260.8	30%	1,403.7	26%

¹From 1 July 2016, constant currency is calculated to take account of hedged rate movements on hedged sales and spot rate movements on unhedged sales

²Periods are as follows:

P1: four months to 31 December

P2: two months to 28/29 February

P3: four months to 30 June

P4: two months to 31 August

³Restated to remove the results of the discontinued operation in China

 

END

 

 

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