Trading Statement

RNS Number : 3715U

ASOS PLC

12 July 2018

 

12 July 2018

ASOS plc ("the Company")

Trading Statement for the four months ended 30 June 2018

	Four months to 30 June				Ten months to 30 June
£m1	2018	2017	Reported Increase	CCY2 Increase	2018	2017	Reported Increase	CCY2 Increase
UK retail sales	288.0	234.6	23%	23%	702.5	575.4	22%	22%
EU retail sales	257.4	196.6	31%	23%	606.5	445.5	36%	28%
US retail sales	108.1	94.4	15%	22%	257.1	218.7	18%	25%
ROW retail sales	149.2	134.5	11%	11%	367.9	309.7	19%	19%
International retail sales	514.7	425.5	21%	19%	1,231.5	973.9	26%	24%
Total retail sales	802.7	660.1	22%	21%	1,934.0	1,549.3	25%	23%
Total group revenue3	823.9	675.8	22%	21%	1,982.0	1,587.3	25%	24%

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 +22% on a reported basis and +21% in constant currency
·	Continued market share gain in the UK with retail sales growth of +23%
·	International sales growth of +21% as infrastructure and proposition investments continue
·	Retail gross margin up 130bps, ahead of plan
·	Continued strong customer engagement: active customers4 +20%, average basket value +1%, average order frequency5 +8%, conversion +10bps

Guidance:

·	FY18 Sales within the +25-30% range, likely towards the lower end
·	FY18 Gross margin guidance c.+100bps
·	FY18 PBT expected to be in line with consensus6
·	FY18 Capex guidance unchanged at £230-250m
·	Medium term guidance unchanged; 20-25% sales growth p.a. at a c.4% EBIT margin

Nick Beighton, CEO, commented:

"I am pleased with the way the business has traded over the last four months and we are on track with our plans for the year. We delivered good sales growth, particularly in the UK, better than planned gross margin alongside significant progress on our infrastructure investments.

P4 trading has started well, particularly in terms of full price sell through. We remain confident of delivering another year of strong growth."

⁴Defined as having shopped in the last twelve months as at 30 June 2018, ⁵Calculated as last twelve months' total orders divided by active customers

⁶Company compiled consensus currently £101.0million as at 11 July 2018

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
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 / Caroline Thomlinson / Bill Hutchings
Numis Securities	Tel: [phone]
Alex Ham / Luke Bordewich / Tom Ballard

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, selling cutting-edge fashion and offering a wide variety of fashion-related content, making ASOS.com the hub of a thriving fashion community. ASOS sells over 87,000 branded and 'ASOS Design' products through localised app and mobile/ desktop web experiences, delivering from fulfilment centres in the UK, US and Europe.  ASOS tailors the mix of ASOS design (our in house designed label), global and local brands sold through our own channels to deliver a locally relevant product offer.  Our global propositions help bring our amazing product to nearly every country in the world and we serve customers globally with increasingly tailored local experiences:  Relevant languages, payment methods and delivery and return options.  You can currently shop ASOS in over 200 markets, in 6 major global languages, using an ever greater number of different global payment methods, with hundreds of local delivery and returns options from pick and drop off networks in Italy to Next Day delivery to home in the Netherlands.  We aim to offer all our global customers a truly frictionless experience.

ASOS's websites attracted 180 million visits during June 2018 (June 2017: 146 million) and as at 30 June 2018 it had 18.0 million active customers¹ (30 June 2017: 15.0 million), of which 5.8 million were located in the UK and 12.2 million were located in our international territories (30 June 2017: 5.2 million in the UK and 9.8 million internationally).

¹Defined as having shopped in the last twelve months as at 30 June 2018

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%	113.6	17%	288.0	23%			702.5	22%
EU retail sales	235.2	42%	113.9	37%	257.4	31%			606.5	36%
US retail sales	102.4	24%	46.6	12%	108.1	15%			257.1	18%
ROW retail sales	151.9	34%	66.8	8%	149.2	11%			367.9	19%
International retail sales	489.5	35%	227.3	22%	514.7	21%			1,231.5	26%
Total retail sales	790.4	30%	340.9	20%	802.7	22%			1,934.0	25%

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%
EU retail sales	165.8	49%	83.1	46%	196.6	41%	98.6	46%	544.1	45%
US retail sales	82.7	66%	41.6	54%	94.4	38%	42.9	26%	261.6	46%
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%
EU retail sales	111.0	29%	56.9	14%	139.5	32%	67.5	30%	374.9	28%
US retail sales	49.7	42%	27.1	38%	68.3	53%	34.1	67%	179.2	50%
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%	113.6	17%	288.0	23%			702.5	22%
EU retail sales	235.2	34%	113.9	29%	257.4	23%			606.5	28%
US retail sales	102.4	28%	46.6	23%	108.1	22%			257.1	25%
ROW retail sales	151.9	32%	66.8	7%	149.2	11%			367.9	19%
International retail sales	489.5	32%	227.3	20%	514.7	19%			1,231.5	24%
Total retail sales	790.4	28%	340.9	19%	802.7	21%			1,934.0	23%

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%
EU retail sales	165.8	38%	83.1	36%	196.6	30%	98.6	36%	544.1	34%
US retail sales	82.7	42%	41.6	34%	94.4	26%	42.9	21%	261.6	31%
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%
EU retail sales	111.0	40%	56.9	17%	139.5	22%	67.5	30%	374.9	28%
US retail sales	49.7	35%	27.1	32%	68.3	45%	34.1	47%	179.2	40%
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

 

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