Boohoo sales jump 27 percent in FY15

Announcing its preliminary results for the year ended February 28, 2015, Boohoo.com said that its revenue increased 27 percent to 139.9 million pounds (212.1 million dollars). Revenue in the UK was up 33 percent, rest of Europe, 39 percent and rest of world reported a revenue rise of 7 percent. The online platform now enjoys over three million active customers, up 29 percent against the prior year.

"We are pleased to report a year of significant progress on so many fronts. We continue to invest in the brand as we develop in key markets like UK, Australia, USA, Ireland and France, where we see the greatest long term growth potential,” exclaimed Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, joint CEOs of Boohoo.com.

Rest of the world growth was impacted by adverse currency movements in the first half, when revenues declined by 11 percent, but recovered in the second half after implementation of a re-pricing strategy in Australia. Second half growth in rest of the world was 29 percent. Gross margin was 60.8 percent. Adjusted EBITDA increased 16 percent on the prior year reported figure.

International sales growth was 17 percent, assisted by the creation of new foreign language sites, multiple payment methods, currency options and locally optimised marketing strategies, but fell short of expectations in some countries. Growth in France was particularly strong whilst growth in Germany, Spain and Scandinavia was strong but from a low base and did not reach the levels expected. In Australia, sales declined in the first half of the year as currency movements eroded our competitive pricing advantage. When the pricing was re-based in the summer, sales returned to growth on a constant currency basis. Australia is the second largest market for Boohoo. Following a major brand marketing campaign in New York City in autumn 2014, including a pop-up store, growth in US sales accelerated and attained 44 percent CER for the year.

Core womenswear ranges continued to grow well, with dresses being the largest category, followed by women's tops and then footwear. Menswear grew by 39 percent and now represents 4.2 percent of total sales. boohoo Plus, a range of larger women's sizes, saw a sales growth from zero to 2.8 percent of group sales in the year.