Trading update

RNS Number : 4745B
boohoo.com plc
07 January 2015
 

For Immediate Release

7 January 2015

 

 

boohoo.com plc - trading update for the four months to 31 December 2014

 

"The Global Fashion Leader for a Social Generation"

 

£'000

Four months to 31 December 2014

Ten months to 31 December 2014

 

FY15

FY14

Increase

CER*

FY15

FY14

Increase

CER*

Sales

50,793

40,591

25%

27%

117,991

91,921

28%

32%

   UK

34,179

27,319

25%

25%

79,784

58,147

37%

37%

   ROE

6,464

4,774

35%

41%

15,183

10,856

40%

47%

  ROW

10,150

8,498

19%

24%

23,024

22,918

0%

10%

*CER - Constant Exchange Rate

 

Highlights for the four months to 31 December 2014

·      Revenue up 25% (27% CER)

UK up 25%

Rest of Europe up 35% (41% CER)

Rest of World up 19% (24% CER)

·      Gross margin 59.9%, up 30bps on prior year

·      2.9m active customers, up 31% on prior year

·      Continued investment in the warehouse management system, people and infrastructure

·      £60m cash on balance sheet

 

Review

 

We announced in our interim results statement in mid-October that we had managed our marketing spend and growth in the early part of this period, whilst also delivering the successful implementation of the new warehouse management system and fully responsive website. Marketing was then increased to stimulate sales, however, the resultant growth was less than anticipated. We believe this was principally due to heavy promotional activity on the UK high street arising from the warm autumn season.  

 

Despite the challenging high street trading environment, we had a record week over "Black Friday".  The investment made in the warehouse and IT enabled us to execute on handling this peak in gross demand which was 2.4 times our previous busiest day whilst maintaining our promise to the customer.

 

Our international pricing initiatives produced encouraging results with constant currency growth of 20% in Australia and 41% in the US. Within the 41% constant currency growth achieved in the Rest of Europe, France was particularly strong.

 

In light of the prevailing sales momentum in the business, we expect the full year results to be below current market expectations. We now anticipate growth for the second half as a whole to be in line with the 25% growth for the four month period to 31 December 2014.   As a result we also expect the EBITDA margin for the full year to be in line with the first half at approximately 10%.

 

Joint Chief Executives Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane said "Whilst the period proved a challenging trading environment, we have still grown the business by 25%, albeit short of our previous expectations. We are very confident that our fashion credentials, pure play online model and the significant investment in infrastructure will continue to drive growth in the UK and internationally."

 

boohoo.com plc

Mahmud Kamani, Joint Chief Executive

Carol Kane, Joint Chief Executive

Neil Catto, Chief Financial Officer

Benjamin Robertson, Investor Relations

 

c/o Buchanan Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000

 

 

 

ben.robertson@boohoo.com

Tel: +44 77 6851 1056

 

Buchanan - Financial PR adviser

Richard Oldworth

Helen Chan

Gabriella Clinkard

 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000

boohoo@buchanan.uk.com

Zeus Capital - Nominated adviser and broker

Nick Cowles

Andrew Jones

John Goold

 

 

Tel: +44 (0)161 831 1512

 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7533 7727

About boohoo.com

 

"24/7 Global Fashion"

Keeping one step ahead of the trends or making a subtle style change is easy with boohoo.com and with up to 100 pieces hitting the site every day and a new collection each week, boohoo.com never stops - it's 24/7 fashion at its best.

From the UK's best kept fashion secret to one of the fastest growing own brand, international e-tailers, boohoo.com has quickly evolved into a global fashion leader of its generation.  Combining cutting-edge, aspirational design with an affordable price tag, boohoo.com has been pushing boundaries since 2006 to bring its customers all the latest looks for less.

www.boohoo.com

www.boohoo.com/denmark

www.boohoo.com/europe

www.boohoo.com/norway

www.boohoo.com/usa

fr.boohoo.com

www.boohoo.com/canada

de.boohoo.com

www.boohoo.com/aus

es.boohoo.com

www.boohoo.com/newz

it.boohoo.com

www.boohoo.com/sweden

nl.boohoo.com

 

 

 

 

Appendix - prior period revenues

 

 

£'000

Three months to 31 May 2014

Three months to 31 August 2014

 

FY15

FY14

Increase

CER

FY15

FY14

Increase

CER

Sales

30,659

24,825

24%

30%

36,538

26,607

37%

41%

   UK

20,686

14,354

44%

44%

24,919

16,577

50%

50%

   ROE

3,891

2,862

36%

40%

4,828

3,219

50%

61%

  ROW

6,082

7,609

-20%

-6%

6,791

6,811

0%

8%

 

 

£'000

Four months to 31 December 2014

Two months to 28 February 2014

 

FY15

FY14

Increase

CER

 

FY14

 

 

Sales

50,793

40,591

25%

27%

 

17,768

 

 

   UK

34,179

27,319

25%

25%

 

12,742

 

 

   ROE

6,464

4,774

35%

41%

 

2,203

 

 

  ROW

10,150

8,498

19%

24%

 

2,823

 

 

 

 

 


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