- Group sales jumped 51% to £294.6m
- Pre-tax profit climbed 97% to £30.9m
- UK sales grew 33%
- 5.2 million active customers, up 29% year-on-year
The acquisitive online fashion business Boohoo has doubled its earnings in what the joint chief executives have termed a “momentous year”.
Boohoo’s pre-tax profits climbed 97% to £30.9m in the twelve months to February 28.
Group sales jumped 51% to £294.6m and active customer numbers grew 29% year-on-year to 5.2 million.
The etailer, which claims to be “leading the fashion ecommerce market” said UK sales grew 33% during the period and sales at its American division grew 140%.
International business now accounts for 39% of total revenue.
Joint chief executives Carol Kane and Mahmud Kamani said: “We continued to grow strongly in the UK, our largest market, whilst international growth exceeded our expectations, particularly in the USA. Our customer proposition is proving consistently appealing.”
Acquisitions
Boohoo, which acquired US fashion brand Nasty Gal’s intellectual property rights and customer databases at the end of February and PrettyLittleThing in January, said its recent acquisitions will spur the company’s future growth.
Kane and Kamani said: “It has been a momentous year for us, with strong results and the acquisitions of PrettyLittleThing and the Nasty Gal brand.
“Both brands have huge potential and the acquisitions represent a step change in the size, structure and operation of the group.
“We are confident that our expertise combined with the strength and following of our new complementary brands will greatly enhance the group’s future growth and profitability.”
The retailer said PrettyLittleThing showed “strong revenue growth” in two months’ of profitable trading since the acquisition – £11.2m since January.
Additional spending
As well as investing in a new website platform, Boohoo splurged on a large warehouse extension and additional office space to equip it for further growth.
The etailer said today it has now secured planning permission for the next stage of its warehouse expansion.
Boohoo’s gross margin dropped 330bps, coming in at 54.5% following “planned promotional activity”.
Outlook
Kane and Kamani said trading in the first few weeks of the 2018 financial year has made a “promising start”.
“The outlook for online fashion retail is very positive, with young consumers globally preferring the choice, price and convenience of online shopping.
“We are excited about the prospects of our development into a multi-branded business.”
Boohoo predicts group revenue growth to approach 50% over 2017 and an EBITDA margin of approximately 10%.
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