The British fast fashion online retailer Boohoo reported a jump in first-quarter revenues due to strong performances in the U.K. and U.S. as Covid-19 lockdowns persisted, favoring e-commerce. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance.
Group revenues rose by 32 percent to £486.1 million (€564.0m-$684.0m) in the three months to May 31. U.K. revenues grew by 50 percent to £274.6 million (€318.3m-$385.7m) while revenues in the U.S. were up by 43 percent to £131.9 million (€152.0m-$184.0m).
Sales in the rest of Europe and the rest of the world fell by 14 percent and 15 percent to £54.7 million (€63.5m-$77.0m) and £24.9 million (€29.0m-$35.2m), respectively.
The gross margin totaled 55.0 percent, in line with two years ago and down by 0.60 percent against a ”strong comparative” in the first quarter of last year.
The compay had £199.1 million in net cash (€231.2m-$280.3m). The figure was down from £276.0 million (€320.4m-$388.5m) on Feb. 28 due to £143.5 million (€166.6m-$202.0m) of investments.
Boohoo said guidance for the fiscal year to Feb. 28, 2022, remains unchanged, with revenue growth forecast at around 25 percent and adjusted Ebitda margin expected to be in the region of 9.5-10 percent.
In the medium-term, it still expects an annual sales growth of 25 percent and to achieve an adjusted Ebitda margin of 10 percent.
The owner of PrettyLittleThing and Karen Millen said it had successfully integrated the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands into its multi-brand platform and launched the new Debenhams digital department store in April, selling fashion, beauty and homewares, with new ranges added.
It bought the Debenhams brand and website out of administration for £55 million (€64.0m-$77.4m) in January.
“I am delighted with our performance in the first quarter, particularly as it was always going to be challenging to produce strong growth rates on last year, when lockdowns around the globe drove such high traffic to online retailers,” said chief executive John Lyttle.
