Asos has enjoyed a bumper Christmas, reporting a 23% rise in sales to £1.32bn for the four months to December 31 2020, with UK sales alone growing by 36% to £554m.
However, in a call to analysts today, CEO Nick Beighton said that the company was expecting to take a £15m hit from Brexit-related costs in the year to August as country of origin rules have changed. He stressed that none of this cost would be directly passed on to consumers.
The group saw strong sales around Peak – selling 200,000 dresses on Black Friday alone, that’s one every two seconds – and has seen customer numbers increase by 1.1 million over the period.
The retailer has also reported that shoppers are being more targeted in their shopping following its threat to clamp down on serial returners, seeing far fewer returns over the festive period, which has also helped its bottom line.
Beighton says: ’We are really pleased with the strong performance we have delivered, which is testament to both the strength of our multi-brand model and the hard work of our people. We have continued to execute well and deliver for our customers, whilst investing into growing our business and driving further efficiency through a strong operational grip.”
He adds: “Looking forward, given the uncertainty associated with the virus and the impact on customers’ lives, our cautious outlook for the second half of the year remains unchanged. However, the strength of our performance gives us confidence in our continued progress towards capturing the global opportunity ahead.”
