Asos retails sales up 15 percent over Christmas

For the six weeks to January 9, 2015, Asos retail sales increased over 15 percent with over 27 percent in the UK and 5 percent internationally.

The company delivered strong operational performance over peak trading period. However, international retail sales now form 51 percent of total compared to 56 percent last year and retail gross margin went down 200 bps on prior year.

Commenting on the update, Nick Robertson, CEO, said, “Trading over the last six weeks was in line with expectations with growth accelerating over Q1 as anticipated. UK sales remained strong. Improved international sales indicate an initial encouraging response to our planned price investments, also reflected in the retail gross margin performance which is in line with expectations for the period.”

The company’s guidance for the outcome for the year in terms of both sales and EBIT margin remains unchanged. The second quarter update covering the three month period to February 28, 2015 will be released on March 12, 2015.