Asos profits down despite sales rise

Online retailer Asos has seen a drop in profits despite rising sales.

The company reported pre-tax profits of £46.9 million for the year to August 31st, a 14 per cent drop on the same period last year. This came despite a 27 per cent jump in sales to £955.3 million. Asos is still recovering after a major fire at its warehouse in Barnsley caused £30 million in lost sales, its latest financial results were also hampered by the strength of sterling.

It has been an uncertain time for Asos. Despite growing substantially in recent years the company issued a profit downgrade in September. The announcement led to a 14 per cent drop in shares and only added to the three profit warnings Asos has issued over the past 12 months. Despite the ongoing problems, the company is confident about the year ahead.

Nick Robertson, chief executive of Asos, highlighted that the UK was one of its top performers with its presence in the nation amounting to a 35 per cent increase in growth. He also explained the company is looking to make significant investment in the coming months.

"We are in a period of major investment that comes at a short term cost, but the medium-term benefits will be significant," Mr Robertson said.

"Asos has always been about the longer journey to a very big prize: to be the world's leading fashion destination for 20-somethings, and we are firmly focused on our next staging post of £2.5 billion sales."

The company also announced that current chief financial officer Nick Beighton will become its new chief operating officer. He will move into the role with immediate effect and will be responsible for the firm's retail and international operations alongside his current finance, IT, supply chain and logistics duties.

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