Source - Alliance News

Asos PLC on Wednesday said its full year loss widened as revenue fell by double digits, but said it expects a slow return to growth.

Shares in Asos fell 11% to 353.60 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

The London-based online fashion retailer said in the year ended September 3, pretax loss widened to £296.7 million from £31.9 million at August 31, 2022, as revenue fell 10% to £3.55 billion from £3.95 billion a year ago.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 32% to £124.5 million from £183.9 million. Adjusted Ebitda margin loss was 0.8%, compared to a positive margin of 1.1% the year prior.

Looking ahead, the fashion firm said it expects a five to 15% decline in its sales for the first half of financial 2024, and a return to growth in the final quarter. It also anticipates positive Ebitda. As for financial 2025, Asos said it expects to deliver revenue growth and return its Ebitda margin to pre-Covid levels of around 6%.

Chief Executive Officer Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte said: ‘[Financial 2023] was a year of good progress for Asos in a very challenging environment, and I am proud of what the business has achieved. We have reduced our stock balance by [around] 30%, significantly improved the core profitability of the business, strengthened our balance sheet, and refreshed our leadership team.

‘Encouragingly, stock that was brought in under our new commercial model over the summer months has performed strongly, and this gives us the confidence to accelerate the rollout of our new processes. As such, we are taking decisive action in [financial 2024] to clear stock brought in under our old model while substantially improving our speed to market and investing in our brand, reminding our customers what we’re really about: fashion.’

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