ASOS Regulatory News (ASC)

30 Sep 2009 07:00



FOR RELEASE

7.00 AM

30 September 2009

ASOS plc

("ASOS")

UK's leading online fashion store

AGM Statement 

and

Trading Update

ASOS sales up 47% for the 6 months to 30 September 2009 

International sales up 110% for the 6 months to 30 September 2009 

1.2m active customers at 30 September 2009 compared to 890,000 at 28 September 2008 

Trading in line with expectations

View the outlook for the full year with confidence

Lord Waheed Alli, the Chairman, will make the following comments on current trading at the Annual General Meeting to be held at 11.00 am today at JPMorgan Cazenove, 20 Moorgate, London, EC2R 6DA.

"I am pleased to report another strong first half performance for ASOS. Sales for the 6 months to 30 September are 47% ahead of the comparable period last year with International sales increasing by over 110%, representing around 25% of total sales for the period. 

The results to date are in line with management's expectations. We expect the first half outcome to be marginally ahead of the prior year and continue to view the outlook for the full year with confidence. 

As at 30 September 2009, ASOS has 1.2m active customers, up from 890,000 at the same point last year. 

Highlights from the period include; the introduction of Gap and Mango, the launch of Menswear into our Outlet offer and the introduction of 'free returns' for all our UK customers. Additionally, we added a further 56 countries to our International shipping list taking the total to 114 compared to 58 at the time we issued our full year results.  We also enhanced our delivery options for International customers, introducing fixed rate and express shipping options."

A further trading update will be provided at the time of the interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2009, which will be released on 16 November 2009.

For further information: 

ASOS plc 

Nick Robertson, Chief Executive Tel: 0207 756 1000 

Nick Beighton, Finance Director 

Website: www.asosplc.com

Cubitt Consulting 

Brian Coleman-Smith / Nicola Krafft Tel: 020 7367 5100 

JPMorgan Cazenove 

Luke Bordewich / Gina Gibson Tel: 020 7588 2828

Numis Securities

Alex Ham / Mark Lander Tel: 020 7260 1000

Background note

ASOS is rapidly becoming the market leader in the UK online fashion world. The business continues to generate profitable growth despite continued investment in operational resources and enjoys strong and increasing barriers to entry.

Established in June 2000 and admitted to AIM in October 2001, ASOS is the UK's largest independent online fashion and beauty retailer and offers over 25,000 branded and own label product lines across womenswear, menswear, footwear, accessories, jewellery and beauty with approximately 1,000 new product lines being introduced each week.

Aimed primarily at fashion forward 16-34 year olds, ASOS attracts over 5.6 million unique visitors a month and, as at 30 September 2009, had 2.7 million registered users and 1.2 million active customers (defined as having shopped in the last 6 months). www.asos.com