Final Results for the year to 31 August 2018

Summary financial results

¹All numbers subject to rounding throughout this document, ²Constant currency is calculated to take account of hedged rate movements on hedged sales and spot rate movements on unhedged sales, ³Includes retail sales, delivery receipts and third party revenues 

Results summary 

• Retail sales grew at +26% on a reported basis and +24% on a constant currency basis 
• Strong growth across both UK, +23%, and international territories, +27% (constant currency +24%)  
• Retail gross margin up 130bps
• PBT up 28% at £102m (EBIT margin 4.2%), after taking account of substantial transition costs  
• Continued strong customer engagement: active customers¹ +19%, average basket value +1%, order frequency² +7%  
• Total orders placed 63.2m, +27% year on year 
• US hub phase one operational, Euro hub phase two progressing well 
• Cash balance of £43m reflecting working capital and capex investment, new £150m 3-year facility agreed 

Guidance and medium term outlook 

• No change to FY19 reported sales and EBIT guidance; c.20-25% and c.4% EBIT margin respectively  
• Medium term reported sales growth guidance also unchanged at c.20-25% p.a. with a c.4% EBIT margin and capex of £230-£250m p.a. 

Nick Beighton, CEO, commented: 

“This has been another year of substantial progress for ASOS. 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 focussed on building ASOS into the world’s number one destination for fashion loving twentysomethings”. 

Investor and analyst meeting: 

There will be a meeting for analysts that will take place at 9.30am today, 17 October 2018, at Numis Securities, 10 Paternoster Row, London EC4M 7LT. Photo ID and security checks will be required so please ensure prompt arrival. A webcast of the meeting will be available both live and following the meeting at www.asosplc.com. Please register your attendance in advance with Tom Berger at Instinctif Partners on either 020 7457 2834 or tom.berger@instinctif.com.  

¹Defined as having shopped in the last twelve months as at 31 August, ²Calculated as last twelve months’ total orders divided by active customers 

Forward looking statements 

This announcement may include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements" (including words such as "believe", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "anticipate" and words of similar meaning). By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty since they relate to future events and circumstances, and actual results may, and often do, differ materially from any forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect management's view with respect to future events as at the date of this announcement. Save as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements in this announcement, whether following any change in its expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement. 

Background note 

ASOS is a global fashion destination for 20-somethings, selling all the freshest styles complemented by exclusive content, making ASOS.com the hub of a thriving fashion community and giving our audience the confidence to be whoever they want to be. ASOS sells over 87,000 branded and ASOS Brand products through localised app and mobile/desktop web experiences, delivering from fulfilment centres in the UK, US and Europe. ASOS curates a mix of our in-house designed labels, ASOS DESIGN, ASOS EDITION, ASOS WHITE and ASOS 4505, with global and local brands sold through our own channels to deliver a locally relevant offer. Our ground-breaking propositions help bring our amazing products to almost every country in the world and we serve customers globally with increasingly tailored local experiences: relevant languages, payment methods and delivery and return options. You can currently shop ASOS in over 200 markets, in eight languages, using an ever greater number of different payment methods, with hundreds of local deliveries and returns options from pick up and drop off networks to Next-Day Delivery. We aim to give all our global customers a truly frictionless experience. 

ASOS’s websites attracted 157.2m visits during August 2018 (August 2017: 135.7m) and as at 31 August 2018 had 18.4m active customers¹ (31 August 2017: 15.4m), of which 6.0m were located in the UK and 12.4m were located in international territories (31 August 2017: 5.2m in the UK and 10.2m internationally).  

¹Defined as having shopped in the last twelve months as at 31 August

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