Asos has reported a surge in sales, sending shares soaring 15% this morning.
Revenue at the fashion retailer increased from £1.9 billion last year to £2.4 billion. Profits grew 28% and sales increased by 26%.
“This has been another year of substantial progress for Asos,” said the chief executive, Nick Beighton.
“We delivered 26% sales growth and 28% profit growth whilst investing heavily in the long-term potential of the business. Our reported profit increase was achieved despite bearing material transition costs due to our investment programme. All our financial and customer key metrics have shown positive growth.”
“Our guidance remains unchanged both for the current year and the medium term, despite our record levels of investment.”
“Asos is moving fast and is as differentiated as ever. The potential for our business is huge and we remain focused on building Asos into the world’s number one destination for fashion-loving twentysomethings,” he added.
As consumers have begun to buy more online, Asos has seen a rapid growth in sales whilst high street rivals such as Next (LON: NXT) or Marks and Spencer (LON: MKS) have suffered.
Shares in the group slumped this year after the firm missed analysts’ forecasts.
Russ Mould, an investment director at AJ Bell, said: “Shares in the online fashion retailer have rocketed upwards as full-year results meet expectations. Investors have clearly been nervous about the retail sector this year, given profit warnings from the likes of Quiz, Superdry, Moss Bros, Footasylum and more in recent months. That’s also led to weakness in Asos’s shares in the run-up to today’s results.”
“The fact that Asos has not only met financial expectations but also maintained future earnings guidance is good enough to win back the market’s favour.”
Shares in the group (LON: ASC) are currently trading up 14.18% at 5.708,88 (1036GMT).