14th Oct 2014 08:09
LONDON (Alliance News) - Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com PLC Tuesday posted strong growth in both profit and revenue for the first half of its financial year, after sales growth accelerated in the second quarter, driven by strong demand as the retailer continues to build and expand its business internationally.
The retailer reported a pretax profit of GBP4.5 million for the six months to August 31, up 23% on the GBP3.7 million profit it reported in the first half of last year, driven by strong revenue growth, up 31% to GBP67.2 million, compared with GBP51.4 million the prior year. It said sales growth accelerated in the second quarter.
"We have grown revenues whilst continuing to lay the foundations for future growth," said its joint chief executives, Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, in a statement.
Boohoo has been investments heavily in the business, and said its focus remains on further expanding its international footprint while growing sales in the UK.
"During the current quarter we have managed our marketing spend and growth during the implementation of the warehouse management system and the launch of the fully responsive mobile website. Following the successful execution of these key initiatives, our marketing spend has again increased in line with our targets and we continue to trade in line with market expectations for the full year," they said.
Boohoo shares rose Tuesday morning, trading 2.3% higher at 44.00 pence.
Boohoo, whose core market is 16-24 year old consumers, said its largest market continues to be the UK, where revenue for the six months grew by 47%. Revenue in the rest of Europe grew by 43%, supported by new website launches.
The retailer has stepped up investment in customer recruitment, and is enhancing its proposition in Europe through the launch of local language website, including Spain, Germany and Italy, as well as a rebasing of prices in Australia. It said investment in its warehouse has increased capacity by 33%.
It said active customers during the period were up 33% on the prior year, to 2.7 million active customers.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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