Online clothing firm ASOS posted a 66% rise in half year profit and enviable sales growth as strong overseas demand overshadowed a weaker UK performance.
The group, which sells fashion to 16-34 year olds, said profit before tax and exceptional items rose to £11.7m for the 6 months ended 30 September 2011 from £7m the year before. Revenue rose 56% to £217.3m. Gross margins increased 10 basis points.
Overall retail sales were up 60%. While UK retail sales rose 8% to £88.7m international retail sales jumped 150% to £122.2m.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
CEO Nick Robertson said he was pleased with the group's first half performance.
"During the half we launched three more country specific sites in Australia, Italy and Spain taking the total number to seven (including the UK)."
"With our continued rapid and profitable international expansion, we remain confident of achieving full year results in line with market expectations," he added.
ASOS however remains cautious about the UK outlook. "The UK remains challenging and as a result we are proceeding more cautiously particularly over the peak period where we anticipate continued high levels of discounting across all retail channels."
--
cj
-
Barclays begins paying up to £100 compensation to customers after banking outageBarclays will pay up to £7.5 million in compensation to customers after its banking services were disrupted by an IT outage
-
Review: Shangri-La Paris – an ode to the world’s best foodNatasha Langan enjoys fine French and Chinese cuisine at the Shangri-La Paris
