The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
LONDON, United Kingdom — Asos Plc, the U.K.'s largest online- only fashion retailer, reported lower first-quarter sales growth than analysts anticipated as trading conditions abroad "remained challenging."
Retail sales advanced 8 percent in the three months through November, the London-based company, which sells Vivienne Westwood clothing and Vans shoes to twenty-somethings, said in a statement today. The median of 14 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for 9 percent growth. U.K. retail sales grew by 24 percent while international sales declined by 2 percent.
Asos shares have lost 61 percent in 2014 after more than doubling in both of the previous years. Sales growth has slowed, particularly outside the U.K., where currency movements have made its clothes relatively more expensive. A fire at a distribution center disrupted business in June.
"September and October were challenging," Chief Executive Officer Nick Robertson said in the statement. "Our sales have since gathered momentum and we had our biggest ever trading week over cyber weekend in November."
ADVERTISEMENT
Asos said it has now introduced zonal pricing in the U.K., Australia and France to improve performance.
By Katarina Gustafsson; editors: Celeste Perri, Kim McLaughlin, Robert Valpuesta.
In 2020, like many companies, the $50 billion yoga apparel brand created a new department to improve internal diversity and inclusion, and to create a more equitable playing field for minorities. In interviews with BoF, 14 current and former employees said things only got worse.
For fashion’s private market investors, deal-making may provide less-than-ideal returns and raise questions about the long-term value creation opportunities across parts of the fashion industry, reports The State of Fashion 2024.
A blockbuster public listing should clear the way for other brands to try their luck. That, plus LVMH results and what else to watch for in the coming week.
L Catterton, the private-equity firm with close ties to LVMH and Bernard Arnault that’s preparing to take Birkenstock public, has become an investment giant in the consumer-goods space, with stakes in companies selling everything from fashion to pet food to tacos.