Asos PLC — Earnings Release 2014

Sep 16, 2014

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RNS Number : 7421R

ASOS PLC

16 September 2014

16 September 2014

ASOS plc ("the Company")

Global Online Fashion Destination

Trading Statement for the three months ended 31 August 2014

	Three months to 31 August				Year to 31 August
£'000s	2014	2013	Increase	CCY^ increase	2014	2013	Increase	CCY^ increase
UK retail sales	98,321	74,101	33%	33%	372,241	276,027	35%	35%
US retail sales	20,797	20,872	0%	10%	92,311	77,678	19%	25%
EU retail sales	64,049	53,036	21%	29%	256,385	177,708	44%	45%
ROW retail sales	56,854	59,922	(5%)	3%	234,358	222,394	5%	15%
Total International retail sales	141,700	133,830	6%	14%	583,054	477,780	22%	28%
Total retail sales	240,021	207,931	15%	21%	955,295	753,807	27%	30%
Total group revenues*	245,663	212,466	16%	22%	975,470	769,396	27%	30%

*Includes retail sales, delivery receipts and third party revenues.

^On constant exchange rate basis

Three months to 31 August 2014 highlights

·    Retail sales +15% (UK +33%, International +6%)

·    International retail sales 59% of total (64% last year)

·    Retail gross margin down c.640 bps on prior year

·    8.8 million active customers1 at 31 August  2014 (+25% year on year)

Year to 31 August 2014 highlights

·    Retail sales +27% (UK +35%, International +22%)

·    International retail sales 61% of total (63% last year)

·    Retail gross margin down c.230 bps on prior year

·    Strong balance sheet and cash position

Nick Robertson, CEO, commented:

"Our UK performance remained strong over the final quarter, with sales increasing 33%. Our International business grew 6% or 14% in constant currency. However, due to the fire at our Barnsley distribution centre, we lost sales during the quarter of between £25m and £30m with a retail gross margin impact of c.200 basis points. After adjusting for insurance proceeds, we expect profit before tax for the year to be in line with market expectations.

Engagement with our customers remains positive with a 25% growth in active customers and increases in order frequency, conversion rate and average basket value. Sales for the year as a whole increased by 27%.

In the new financial year we'll make significant investments in our international pricing and proposition, as well as in our logistical infrastructure and technology platform. As a result, we expect profit before tax for the year to 31 August 2015 to be at a similar level to 2013/14.

We remain focussed on the long term opportunity for ASOS, with £2.5bn of sales as our next staging post".

Analyst/Investor conference call:

ASOS will be hosting a conference call for analysts and investors at 8:30am (UK Time) today. Please call Antonia Pollock at Instinctif Partners for dial-in details on 0207 457 2857 or email antonia.pollock@instinctif.com.

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-library.aspx

For further information:

ASOS plc	Tel: 020 7756 1000
Nick Robertson, Chief Executive
Nick Beighton, Finance Director Greg Feehely, Head of Investor Relations
Instinctif Partners	Tel: 020 7457 2020
Matthew Smallwood / Justine Warren / Antonia Pollock
JPMorgan Cazenove	Tel: 020 7742 4000
Luke Bordewich / Gina Gibson
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 90,000 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 attract 71.2 million visits per month (August 2013: 68.5 million) and as at 31 August 2014 had 8.8 million active customers1 (31 August 2013: 7.1 million), of which 3.4 million were located in the UK and 5.4 million were located in our international territories (31 August 2013: 2.8 million in the UK and 4.3 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 by quarter for the year ending 31 August 2014

£'000s	Q11	YOY%	Q22	YOY%	Q3	YOY%	Q4	YOY%	2013/14	YOY%
UK retail sales	133,667	37%	48,373	21%	91,880	43%	98,321	33%	372,241	35%
US retail sales	32,253	28%	14,496	41%	24,765	17%	20,797	0%	92,311	19%
EU retail sales	87,295	69%	40,331	57%	64,710	37%	64,049	21%	256,385	44%
ROW retail sales	82,450	19%	33,454	3%	61,600	1%	56,854	(5%)	234,358	5%
International retail sales	201,998	38%	88,281	29%	151,075	17%	141,700	6%	583,054	22%
Total retail sales	335,665	38%	136,654	26%	242,955	25%	240,021	15%	955,295	27%

Retail sales by quarter for the year ending 31 August 2013

£'000s	Q11	YOY%	Q22	YOY%	Q3	YOY%	Q4	YOY%	2012/13	YOY%
UK retail sales	97,713	28%	39,866	23%	64,347	39%	74,101	49%	276,027	34%
US retail sales	25,280	56%	10,271	48%	21,255	59%	20,872	59%	77,678	57%
EU retail sales	51,780	29%	25,677	53%	47,215	56%	53,036	73%	177,708	51%
ROW retail sales	69,083	39%	32,593	34%	60,796	38%	59,922	26%	222,394	35%
International retail sales	146,143	38%	68,541	43%	129,266	48%	133,830	47%	477,780	44%
Total retail sales	243,856	34%	108,407	35%	193,613	45%	207,931	47%	753,807	40%

Retail sales by quarter for the year ending 31 August 2012

£'000s	Q11	YOY%	Q22	YOY%	Q3	YOY%	Q4	YOY%	2011/12	YOY%
UK retail sales	76,581	11%	32,386	4%	46,437	8%	49,854	15%	205,258	10%
US retail sales	16,209	154%	6,928	66%	13,351	78%	13,097	65%	49,585	91%
EU retail sales	40,118	37%	16,728	29%	30,224	27%	30,678	22%	117,748	29%
ROW retail sales	49,654	196%	24,317	106%	43,912	71%	47,413	53%	165,296	94%
International retail sales	105,981	102%	47,973	66%	87,487	54%	91,188	42%	332,629	64%
Total retail sales	182,562	50%	80,359	34%	133,924	34%	141,042	31%	537,887	38%

1Four months to 31 December

2 Two months to 28 February 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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