Shares in online clothing sales group Asos fell more than 10% in London on Wednesday after the company announced an annual net loss multiplied by ten to almost 250 million pounds for its staggered financial year ending September 3. Asos saw its turnover decline by 10% over one year. The group had announced in the first half of the year that it was suffering from its ongoing restructuring and the difficult commercial context in the midst of the cost of living crisis.
The company, which had benefited greatly from confinements during the pandemic, also suffered from the reopening of stores post-Covid. Asos is implementing a recovery plan to “sell off inventory introduced under our old model while significantly improving our speed to market and investing in our brand,” said Managing Director José Antonio Ramos Calamonte. Wednesday. But the group forecasts, for the current financial year, that sales will continue to decline by 5 to 15% before rebounding thereafter.
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These announcements caused Asos shares to plunge on the London Stock Exchange, which fell by 10.12% to 355.40 pence around 09:15 GMT. “There were no major surprises in the annual results”, which also show a decrease in the number of active customers of 9%, “while buyers are clearly struggling with the cost of living crisis” and are shopping for clothes elsewhere, according to Aarin Chiekrie, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
A capital increase of 80 million pounds “has given Asos some room to maneuver to carry out its ongoing transformation, and there are very early signs that it is bearing fruit”, however believes the analyst, who notes notably that profit per order increased by more than 30% as the group refocused on better quality and more profitable sales. The fate of Asos contrasted on Wednesday with that of the British clothing chain Next, which saw its stock rise by 3.60% to 7,132 pence after announcing a stronger increase in its sales than expected in the third quarter (August – October ) and an improvement in its profit forecast for the year.