Q2 Trading Statement

 

12 March 2015

 

ASOS plc ("the Company")

Global Online Fashion Destination

Trading Statement for the three months ended 28 February 2015

 

	Three months to 28 February				Six months to 28 February
£'000	2015	2014	Increase	CCY^ increase	2015	2014	Increase	CCY^ increase
UK retail sales	126,566	97,670	30%	30%	231,370	182,040	27%	27%
US retail sales	30,553	24,725	24%	16%	54,528	46,749	17%	14%
EU retail sales	77,227	68,079	13%	21%	136,228	127,626	7%	14%
ROW retail sales	55,754	53,571	4%	10%	114,303	115,904	(1%)	5%
Total International retail sales	163,534	146,375	12%	16%	305,059	290,279	5%	10%
Total retail sales	290,100	244,045	19%	22%	536,429	472,319	14%	17%
Total group revenue1	298,274	248,989	20%	22%	550,474	481,726	14%	17%

¹Includes retail sales, delivery receipts and third party revenues

^ On constant exchange rate basis

 

Three months to 28 February 2015 highlights

·    Retail sales up 19% (UK retail sales up 30%, International retail sales up 12%)

·    International retail sales 56% of total (60% last year)

·    Retail gross margin down c.320 bps on prior year

 

Six months to 28 February 2015 highlights

·    Retail sales up 14% (UK retail sales up 27%, International retail sales up 5%)

·    International retail sales 57% of total (61% last year)

·    Retail gross margin down c.270 bps on prior year

·    9.3 million active customers² at 28 February 2015, up 13% on prior year

·    Strong balance sheet and cash position

 

 

²Defined as having shopped in the last 12 months

 

Nick Robertson, CEO, commented:

"Retail sales for the three months to 28 February 2015 grew by +19% (+22% on a constant currency basis), with strong growth continuing in the UK at +30%. We have also seen encouraging momentum in our international markets during the quarter at +12% (+16% on a constant currency basis) following the successful roll out of our zonal pricing capability and our planned price investments.

Our investments in our warehouse and IT platforms are on track. We expect profit before tax for the full year to be in line with market expectations." 

Analyst/Investor conference call:

ASOS will be hosting a conference call for analysts and investors at 8:00am (UK Time) today. Please call Guy Scarborough at Instinctif Partners for dial-in details on 020 7457 2047 or email [email protected].

A recording of this conference call will be available on the ASOS Plc investor centre website later today: http://www.asosplc.com/investors.aspx 

Photography:

Latest photography will be available at: http://www.asosplc.com/media/image-gallery/consumer.aspx   

For further information:

ASOS plc	Tel: 020 7756 1000
Nick Robertson, Chief Executive
Nick Beighton, Chief Financial Officer / Chief Operating Officer Greg Feehely, Head of Investor Relations
Instinctif Partners	Tel: 020 7457 2020
Matthew Smallwood / Justine Warren / Guy Scarborough
JPMorgan Cazenove	Tel: 020 7742 4000
Luke Bordewich
Numis Securities	Tel: 020 7260 1000
Alex Ham

 

Background note

ASOS is a global fashion destination for 20-somethings. We sell cutting-edge 'fast fashion' and offer a wide variety of fashion-related content, making ASOS.com the hub of a thriving fashion community. We sell over 75,000 branded and own-brand products through localised mobile and web experiences, delivering from our fulfilment centres in the UK, US, Europe and China to almost every country in the world.

 

We tailor the mix of own-label, global and local brands sold through each of our nine local language websites: UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, Russia and China.

 

ASOS's websites attracted 88 million visits during February 2015 (February 2014: 71 million) and as at 28 February 2015 had 9.3 million active customers¹ (28 February 2014: 8.2 million), of which 3.7 million were located in the UK and 5.6 million were located in our international territories (28 February 2014: 3.2 million in the UK and 5.0 million internationally).

 

¹ Defined as having shopped in the last 12 months

 

www.asos.com	www.asos.es
www.us.asos.com	www.asos.com/ru
www.asos.de	www.asos.cn
www.asos.fr	m.asos.com
www.asos.com/au	marketplace.asos.com
www.asos.it	fashionfinder.asos.com

 

Appendix 1 - Retail sales growth by quarter¹ in sterling

Year ending 31 August 2015

£'000	Q1	YOY%	Q2	YOY%	Q3	YOY%	Q4	YOY%	2014/15 YTD	YOY%
UK retail sales	104,804	24%	126,566	30%					231,370	27%
US retail sales	23,975	9%	30,553	24%					54,528	17%
EU retail sales	59,001	(1%)	77,227	13%					136,228	7%
ROW retail sales	58,549	(6%)	55,754	4%					114,303	(1%)
International retail sales	141,525	(2%)	163,534	12%					305,059	5%
Total retail sales	246,329	8%	290,100	19%					536,429	14%

 

Year ending 31 August 2014

£'000	Q1	YOY%	Q2	YOY%	Q3	YOY%	Q4	YOY%	2013/14	YOY%
UK retail sales	84,370	36%	97,670	29%	91,880	43%	98,321	33%	372,241	35%
US retail sales	22,024	16%	24,725	50%	24,765	17%	20,797	0%	92,311	19%
EU retail sales	59,547	79%	68,079	54%	64,710	37%	64,049	21%	256,385	44%
ROW retail sales	62,333	21%	53,571	6%	61,600	1%	56,854	(5%)	234,358	5%
International retail sales	143,904	39%	146,375	32%	151,075	17%	141,700	6%	583,054	22%
Total retail sales	228,274	38%	244,045	31%	242,955	25%	240,021	15%	955,295	27%

 

Year ending 31 August 2013

£'000	Q1	YOY%	Q2	YOY%	Q3	YOY%	Q4	YOY%	2012/13	YOY%
UK retail sales	62,053	24%	75,526	28%	64,347	39%	74,101	49%	276,027	34%
US retail sales	19,048	57%	16,503	50%	21,255	59%	20,872	59%	77,678	57%
EU retail sales	33,337	15%	44,120	58%	47,215	56%	53,036	73%	177,708	51%
ROW retail sales	51,357	42%	50,319	33%	60,796	38%	59,922	26%	222,394	35%
International retail sales	103,742	34%	110,942	45%	129,266	48%	133,830	47%	477,780	44%
Total retail sales	165,795	30%	186,468	37%	193,613	45%	207,931	47%	753,807	40%

 

¹ Quarterly periods are as follows: 

Q1: three months to 30 November

Q2: three months to 28 February

Q3: three months to 31 May

Q4: three months to 31 August

 

Appendix 2 - Retail sales growth by quarter¹ at constant currency

Year ending 31 August 2015

£'000	Q1	YOY%	Q2	YOY%	Q3	YOY%	Q4	YOY%	2014/15 YTD	YOY%
UK retail sales	104,804	24%	126,566	30%					231,370	27%
US retail sales	23,975	12%	30,553	16%					54,528	14%
EU retail sales	59,001	7%	77,227	21%					136,228	14%
ROW retail sales	58,549	0%	55,754	10%					114,303	5%
International retail sales	141,525	4%	163,534	16%					305,059	10%
Total retail sales	246,329	12%	290,100	22%					536,429	17%

 

Year ending 31 August 2014

£'000	Q1	YOY%	Q2	YOY%	Q3	YOY%	Q4	YOY%	2013/14	YOY%
UK retail sales	84,370	36%	97,670	29%	91,880	43%	98,321	33%	372,241	35%
US retail sales	22,024	15%	24,725	53%	24,765	28%	20,797	10%	92,311	25%
EU retail sales	59,547	68%	68,079	51%	64,710	42%	64,049	29%	256,385	45%
ROW retail sales	62,333	27%	53,571	16%	61,600	16%	56,854	3%	234,358	15%
International retail sales	143,904	38%	146,375	36%	151,075	28%	141,700	14%	583,054	28%
Total retail sales	228,274	37%	244,045	33%	242,955	33%	240,021	21%	955,295	30%

 

Year ending 31 August 2013

£'000	Q1	YOY%	Q2	YOY%	Q3	YOY%	Q4	YOY%	2012/13	YOY%
UK retail sales	62,053	24%	75,526	28%	64,347	39%	74,101	49%	276,027	34%
US retail sales	19,048	57%	16,503	54%	21,255	54%	20,872	55%	77,678	55%
EU retail sales	33,337	25%	44,120	63%	47,215	52%	53,036	62%	177,708	51%
ROW retail sales	51,357	42%	50,319	33%	60,796	36%	59,922	28%	222,394	34%
International retail sales	103,742	38%	110,942	47%	129,266	44%	133,830	44%	477,780	43%
Total retail sales	165,795	33%	186,468	39%	193,613	42%	207,931	45%	753,807	40%

 

¹Quarterly periods are as follows: 

Q1: three months to 30 November

Q2: three months to 28 February

Q3: three months to 31 May

Q4: three months to 31 August