MYSL.L Regulatory News (MYSL)

MySale Group plc: Trading update

MySale Group plc ("MySale" or "the Company") today issues the following trading update for the first five months of its financial year, ended 30 November 2014 and ahead of its annual meeting to be held on 16 December 2014.

The Company has continued to focus its investment on new worldwide member acquisition, which remains very strong with 3.1 million new members acquired in the year to date (to 30 November 2014), bringing the total to more than 15.5 million. Mobile continues to play a pivotal role in the Group's development, with almost 4 million apps downloaded.

Overall the Group's revenues year-on-year (in the five months to 30 November 2014) were 4 per cent higher than the previous year. Within this figure however, the Group has experienced significant regional variations. It had a strong performance in Asia, with revenues year-on-year up 29 per cent and in its Rest Of World operations where sales are materially ahead of analyst expectations, including a maiden contribution from its new markets in the UK and the USA. The UK in particular is trading ahead of expectations and the Company has become increasingly confident in the UK market opportunity, where it has now established itself with a new buying office in London and a fully operational UK distribution centre in Corby. Since its IPO in June, Mysale has begun operating in a further 4 countries including the UK and the USA, bringing the total number of countries in which it operates to 10.

Trading was however more challenging in the Company's original markets of Australia and New Zealand ("ANZ"), where competition has increased noticeably and the economic outlook has weakened. Sales in the ANZ region were flat year-on-year. The Group has taken a number of steps to address this during the first half, including additional marketing and new product initiatives. For the 5 months to 30 November, the average item margin has improved to 41.7 per cent. MySale has incurred a number of one-off investments totalling approximately A$9 million in its existing markets in order to stimulate growth.

The Group's cash balances remain strong at more than A$64 million (£33.5 million). Stock holding continues to remain very low, with 90 per cent of revenue generated from the consignment model, in which the Group takes no inventory risk.

Overall MySale anticipates that revenues for the full year will show double digit growth, despite the slowdown in the Australian economy, as its new markets continue to develop. Profit-before-tax is expected to be materially below market expectations, as MySale continues to grow its membership for the long term in our newer markets.

MySale expects to report its interim results for the six months to 31 December 2014 on 27 February 2015.

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About the MySale Group

The MySale Group was founded in 2007 by Jamie Jackson and now has over 15 million members and operates websites in 10 countries, employing more than 500 people. Ozsale,com.au nzsale.co.nz and singsale.com.sg were the first flash sale websites in their respective markets and are all now dominant e-commerce businesses. The MySale websites operate in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand with plans at an advanced stage to open in Korea, Hong Kong, US and the UK. The group hosts flash sales that run for three days in each core market across ladies wear, menswear, childrenswear, health, beauty and home wares. Only members can access sales. Membership is free.