Retail sales surged by 40% at Asos as the fast fashion retailer reported another strong performance for the year ended 31 August 2013. Profit before tax and exceptional items were up 23% to £54.7m but it was in the international market where its success came with 63% of total retail sales coming from overseas. In a statement, the company said it will launch in China soon after launching a website in Russia this May.
Founded in 2000, Asos is one of the biggest success stories of British retailing in recent years, selling over 65,000 branded and own-label products shipped for free to 237 countries. Nick Robertson, CEO, Asos commented: “During the year we continued to make progress towards our goal of being the world’s number one fashion destination for 20-somethings. We reached the milestone of 7 million active customers worldwide, following significant investment in our product offer, delivery options, customer experience and marketing.”
During the year Asos added new third party brands including New Look, Monki, Jack Wills and Pull & Bear. Asos, who set up offices in the EuraTechnologies tech start-up hub in Lille, France a year ago, revealed that they were signing up a customer every minute at their busiest times. Gaele Wuilmet, who heads up its French office said one of the reasons the retailer decided to move to Lille was due to convenient business links with London and Paris. “Lille is the capital of e-commerce and fast fashion,” she declared during a morning briefing at Asos France yesterday.
The company announced plans on Wednesday to step up investment in support of its rapid sales growth, saying it would increase spending on people, technology, logistics and marketing to about £55m in each of the next two years. It invested £33m in 2012-13.
Shares in Asos have more than doubled in the past year, but slipped 5.1pc in early trading on Wednesday to £52.03.
Wee Fashion Shower! 