Boohoo Regulatory News (BOO)

boohoo.com plc - trading update for the two months and highlights for the year to 28th February 2015

"The Global Fashion Leader for a Social Generation"

Highlights for the two months to 28th February 2015

· Revenue up 22% (24% CER)

· Strong performance in the Rest of the World

· Gross margin approximately 58%, reflecting the January sale

· 3m active customers, up 29% on prior year

· Focus on conversion and profit margin during the period ahead of accelerating marketing spend into the Spring Summer 2015 season

Highlights for the year to 28th February 2015

· Revenue up 27% (31% CER)

· Gross margin approximately 61%

· EBITDA margin for the year expected to be approximately 10%

· Continued investment in warehouse infrastructure with the WMS successfully implemented and construction of the warehouse extension scheduled for completion in April

· New fully responsive website delivering improved mobile experience with handheld now accounting for almost 50% of visits

· Product range continues to be extended with the successful launch of boohoo Petite and boohoo FIT during the period

· £54m cash on balance sheet at year end

Commentary

Following a challenging third quarter to our financial year in the UK, we have focussed on driving customer conversion and margin during the two months to February 2015. January is a promotional month and February a transitional month into the Spring season so we have held marketing spend at c.10% of sales ahead of increasing that towards levels seen in the first quarter last year. Early indications suggest our Spring #WeAreUs campaign is being positively received and was trending at the number one position on Twitter on launch day.

We have continued to gain market share in the UK, achieving a 2.17% share of traffic in February 2015 according to Hitwise, a 12% improvement on the prior year.

The Rest of Europe continued to perform strongly for boohoo.com during the period, with 46% constant currency growth, a reflection of our focus on fewer key markets. In the Rest of World, investment in our proposition continued to produce encouraging results with continued acceleration of growth in the last two months of the year.

Group EBITDA margins are expected to be in line with previous guidance of approximately 10% for the year.

Our investment in infrastructure and IT continues and we expect the construction of the extension to the warehouse to be completed during April which will provide significant capacity for future growth.

Mobile now represents almost half of all sessions and daily unique visitors. The new responsive website launched in September has seen mobile conversion improve by over 40% in the last quarter.

The Board has considered the levels of cash in the business and will be seeking authorisation to buy back up to 10% of issued share capital to be approved at the next AGM. Any share buy back would also be conditional on independent shareholders approving a whitewash resolution pursuant to Rule 9 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers.

Joint Chief Executives Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane commented:

"We continue to build our business for the long term, as we stated at our IPO last year, and our clear objective is to deliver sustainable growth. We remain absolutely focussed on execution and are increasing our marketing spend in FY16 to drive momentum in the business."

Analyst/Investor conference call:

boohoo.com will host a conference call for analysts and investors at 9.30am (UK time) today. Please call/email Buchanan for dial-in details. The results for the full year are expected to be announced on 6th May 2015.

Enquiries

About boohoo.com

"24/7 Global Fashion"

Keeping one step ahead of the trends or making a subtle style change is easy with boohoo.com and with up to 100 pieces hitting the site every day and a new collection each week, boohoo.com never stops - it's 24/7 fashion at its best.

From the UK's best kept fashion secret to one of the fastest growing own brand, international e-tailers, boohoo.com has quickly evolved into a global fashion leader of its generation. Combining cutting-edge, aspirational design with an affordable price tag, boohoo.com has been pushing boundaries since 2006 to bring its customers all the latest looks for less.

Appendix - prior period revenues

Revenue by period for the year ending 28th February 2015

Revenue by period for the year ending 28th February 2014