Asos reports sales up by a third

Asos this week reported sales up by almost a third in its latest quarter.

The fast fashion online retailer, ranked Leading in IRUK Top500 research, reported group sales of £675.8m in the four months to June 30 – 32% up on the same time last year, while retail sales of £660.1m were 44%.

Growth was slowest in the UK, where sales of £234.6m were 16% up on last time. But the US (+38%), EU (+41%) and rest of the world (+54%) markets showed stronger rises in sales. Overall, international retail sales were 44% up on last time.

Chief executive Nick Beighton said the company was confident of meeting expectations around full-year pre-tax profits in the full year and said that ongoing investment in customer proposition and price had helped maintain sales investment through the third quarter of the year.

“This good performance has been underpinned by advances across all areas of our business including retail, technology, warehousing, delivery solutions and customer care,” he said. “We have made a smooth transition to our new Eurohub 2 facility in Germany and anticipate confirming a new US logistics hub soon.”

In the quarter, said Asos, it achieved 300 new tech releases and shipped 16.9m orders – 28% up on last time. It has now completed the first phase of a move to its new Eurohub 2 warehouse and says phase 2 is underway.

The sales growth came despite a fire that broke out during the quarter in Asos Eurohub 2 warehouse. The fire, in May, damaged stock estimated at the time to be worth £6.25m.

In its last full-year figures, which showed sales up by 26% in the year to August 31 – Beighton said the results reflected its “unwavering focus on delivering great customer experiences” and said that the retailer was focusing on investments in logistics and technology. At the time it also said that 66% of its online traffic was now from mobile devices, with 51% of orders from that channel.