(Alliance News) - ASOS PLC updates on festive trading next week Thursday, with its stock still scarred by a profit warning, though broker Peel Hunt will pay particularly close attention to the online retailer's US trading.
ASOS shares were up 0.4% at 2,204.00 pence each in London on Friday afternoon, and are 57% lower than they were a year ago.
ASOS back in October warned on profit due to cost pressures, the falling away of Covid-19-related tailwinds and supply chain issues.
It said it expects pretax profit for the 2022 financial, which ends in August, between GBP110 million to GBP140 million. This would be well below the GBP193.6 million in the year prior.
On Thursday, ASOS updates on trading for the four months to December 31, what the AIM listing labels its P1 period.
Of particular interest for broker Peel Hunt will be US trading.
"We are not expecting upgrades, but we are looking for signs of green shoots in the US," the broker said.
In the previous financial year, US sales grew by 21%, though ASOS said it saw "intake constraints" due to global shipping disruption.
Peel added: "ASOS had started to launch US brand content across social channels, video on demand and wider broad reach advertising to target the addressable customer base from early autumn. Clearly it is early days, but we are looking for signs of traction and how effective customer recruitment was."
ASOS's update includes the vital Christmas and Black Friday trading periods.
ASOS will have faced tough comparatives and supply chain strife during the periods, Peel added.
The broker rates the stock at Buy, with a 5,000 pence price target.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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