Good morning: The online fashion retailer Asos has reported a 253 per cent rise in pre-tax profits after benefiting from a surge in orders during lockdown.
The company this morning reported a 24 per cent rise in revenues year-on-year to £2 billion for the six months to the end of February, with pre-tax profits rising from £30.1 million to £106 million. Sales in the UK rose 39 per cent, while sales in Europe were up 18 per cent, the US 16 per cent and the rest of the international business 16 per cent.
Nick Beighton, the chief executive, said: “We are delighted with our exceptional first-half performance and proud of the work our teams have put in to achieve this.
“Looking ahead, while we are mindful of the short-term uncertainty and potential economic consequences of the continuing pandemic, we are confident in the momentum we have built, and excited about delivering on our ambition of being the number one destination for fashion-loving 20-somethings.”
Asos bought the Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge brands from the remnants of Sir Philip Green’s retail empire in February. Beighton said that early customer reaction to an online relaunch of the brands had been “impressive”.
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Elsewhere this morning:
• The homewares retailer Dunelm Group has reported a better-than-expected 16.8 per cent fall in year-on-year sales in the three months to March 27, helped by a 70 per cent rise in digital sales. The group’s stores were closed for the entire period. It expects to end the year modestly ahead of analysts’ expectations for pre-tax profit of between £120 million and £125 million.
• National Grid Electricity System Operator, which runs Britain’s electricity control room, is to pay £1.5 million into Ofgem’s voluntary redress fund to support vulnerable energy consumers and innovation. The energy regulator found the electricity system operator was “periodically either over or under” with its forecasts for Britain’s electricity usage in 2017.
• The chemicals and technology group Johnson Matthey has said profits for the year to the end of March will be “around the top end of market expectations”. The FTSE 100 company said it enjoyed a “materially stronger” performance in the second half of the period as the automotive industry and other key sectors recovered from the Covid-19 crisis. Johnson Matthey has also launched a strategic review of its health division.
On the economics front we get the construction PMI data for March at 9.30am. City economists expect a reading of 54.6, up from 53.3 in February.
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Graham
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