Online fashion retailer Asos has posted a 34 per cent sales rise for the first half of the year as the company gained 2.2m new customers.
But profit before tax fell 22 per cent to £20.1m after it invested in its website, warehouses and the Chinese arm of its business. The firm will launch on China‘s Tmall e-commerce platform in the second half of 2014.
Planet Retail research shows 41 per cent of Chinese shoppers are likely to use the internet when buying high street fashion in the future, and under 35-year-olds currently spend $344 a year on online fashion.
Asos, who delivered a surprise profit warning last month, now has 8.2m customers with 5m now living outside the UK.
“This increased pace of investment has reduced our profitability in the period, but will deliver significantly increased capacity as well as efficiencies in the longer term. ASOS is not and has never been about the short-term; the scale of the global opportunity remains as exciting as ever and we are investing for the many opportunities ahead,” said chief executive Nick Robertson.
