Asos profit surge fuelled by overseas sales
Online fashion retailer ASOS met forecasts with a 43-per cent rise in year profit as stellar growth overseas offset a weaker home market.
The firm, which targets 16 to 34-year-old women looking to emulate the designer looks of celebrities such as Alexa Chung, Tulisa Contostavlos and Kate Moss, said on Thursday it made a pretax profit of 40.9 million pounds in the year to 31 March.
That compared with analysts’ average forecast of £40.3m.
Group revenue rose 46 per cent to £495m, though retail sales growth slowed in the fourth quarter to 34 per cent from 46 per cent in the third.
International retail sales more than doubled over the year, benefiting from the launch of country specific websites in Australia, Spain and Italy, while UK retail sales were up seven per cent. Gross margin improved 180 basis points.
International sales now account for 59 per cent of total retail sales.
“We remain positive in our outlook for 2012/13 as we continue our journey to becoming the world’s number one online fashion destination,” said chief executive Nick Robertson, who is targeting £1bn of sales by 2015.