REG - ASOS PLC - Trading Statement <Origin Href="QuoteRef">ASOS.L</Origin>

AsosAnnouncement

09/12/2014 07:10

RNS Number : 1755Z
ASOS PLC
09 December 2014
9 December 2014
ASOS plc ("the Company")
Global Online Fashion Destination
Trading Statement for the three months ended 30 November 2014

Three months to 30 November
'000
2014
2013
Increase
CCY^
increase 
UK retail sales
104,804
 84,370 
24%
24%
 US retail sales
23,975
 22,024 
9%
12%
 EU retail sales
59,001
 59,547 
(1%)
7%
 ROW retail sales
58,549
 62,333 
(6%)
0%
Total International retail sales
141,525
 143,904 
(2%)
4%
Total retail sales
246,329
 228,274 
8%
12%





Total group revenues*
252,200
 232,737 
8%
12%
*Includes retail sales, delivery receipts and third party revenues.
^On constant exchange rate basis
Three months to 30 November 2014 highlights 
 Retail sales +8% (UK +24%, International -2%)
 International retail sales 57% of total (63% last year)
 Retail gross margin down c.170 bps on prior year
 Mechanised pick solution at Barnsley now live
 Zonal live in UK, Australia and France
 Business interruption claim completed; further reimbursements received of 6.3m
 Strong balance sheet and cash position
Nick Robertson, CEO, commented:
"Total retail sales for the quarter grew by 8% (12% on a constant currency basis). September and October were challenging as we completed the automation programme in Barnsley in time for peak. Our sales have since gathered momentum and we had our biggest ever trading week over cyber weekend in November.
Our strong UK performance continued at +24%, however international retail sales declined by 2% (growth of 4% at constant currency). International trading conditions remain challenging. 
We have commenced investment into our international pricing and have started to roll out our zonal pricing capability, which combined will help us to address our international performance. We continue to focus on our major investment programmes, upgrading our IT platform and investing in our logistics capability.
During the quarter, we received 6.3 million of insurance proceeds related to the fire at Barnsley in June, which we are deploying to accelerate our investment in international pricing. After taking this into account, we expect full year profits to be in line with expectations".
Analyst/Investor conference call:
ASOS will be hosting a conference call for analysts and investors at 8:30am (UK Time) today. Please call Guy Scarborough at Instinctif Partners for dial-in details on 020 7457 2047 or email guy.scarborough@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, 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 80,000 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 90 million visits during November 2014 (November 2013: 81 million) and as at 30 November 2014 had 9.0 million active customers1 (30 November 2013: 7.6 million), of which 3.6 million were located in the UK and 5.4 million were located in our international territories (30 November 2013: 3.0 million in the UK and 4.6million 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%






104,804
24%
 US retail sales
23,975
9%






23,975
9%
 EU retail sales
59,001
(1%)






59,001
(1%)
 ROW retail sales
58,549
(6%)






58,549
(6%)
International retail sales
141,525
(2%)






141,525
(2%)
Total retail sales 
 246,329 
8%






 246,329 
8%
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%






104,804
24%
 US retail sales
23,975
12%






23,975
12%
 EU retail sales
59,001
7%






59,001
7%
 ROW retail sales
58,549
0%






58,549
0%
International retail sales
141,525
4%






141,525
4%
Total retail sales 
 246,329 
12%






 246,329 
12%
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

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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