Boohoo powers ahead again, no sign of slowdown in UK, US, Europe

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 12, 2019

Boohoo Group issued a trading update on Wednesday that may have been short but it was fairly sweet with the three months up to May 31 showing continued “strong growth across all brands in all regions.”

The company said total revenue rose 39% to reach £254.3 million and even the troubled UK market saw a 27% leap to £140.6 million. The rest of Europe was up 72% to £38.2 million, with the USA up 64% to £51.3 million, and the rest of the world rising 26% to reach £24.2 million. All of those percentages were at actual exchange rates, and the constant currency figures showed only small variations.

Clearly, the company is firing on all cylinders, despite one tiny piece of bad news with the overall gross margin falling to 55% from 55.2%.

The company, which recently acquired the Miss Pap brand, said that its Boohoo brand managed a 27% sales increase to £123.5 million with growth accelerating from last year and the gross margin rising.

At PrettyLittleThing, revenue was up an astonishing 42% at £112.1 million, although the gross margin fell for this brand. At Nasty Gal, revenue rose an even more impressive 153% to reach £18.2 million “with gathering momentum in all markets,” despite a lower gross margin.

The company added that trading in the first quarter has been strong and it continues to expect overall revenue growth for the year of between 25% and 30%. 

CEO John Lyttle said: "The group has made a strong start to the year as we continue to disrupt and capture market share in the UK and internationally across all our brands. I'm delighted that the group topped the UK Hitwise rankings in May for the first time, demonstrating how our multi-brand strategy is really capturing our customers' attention. We have ambitious plans and continue to invest to ensure that our scalable multi-brand platform is well-positioned to disrupt, gain market share and capitalise on the global opportunity in front of us."