ASOS expected to appoint new CEO soon

Online retailer ASOS is reportedly expected to appoint a new Chief Executive shortly, eight months after former CEO Nick Beighton left the company.

Current Chief Commercial Officer José Antonio Ramos Calamonte could be the next candidate for the top job, according to the Sunday Times.

Calamonte was Chief Executive at Portuguese fashion business Salsa Jeans for two years before joining ASOS in 2021.

In January 2022 former Farfetch Chief Operating Officer Andrew Robb was reportedly in the running to take over as CEO.  Robb spent almost ten years with Farfetch and left in February 2020 having seen the global luxury marketplace through its scale-up phase to a $6 billion listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Sky News also reported that Rob Hattrell, head of eBay’s European arm, had been offered the role but had turned it down.

Nick Beighton stepped down from his role as CEO in October 2021, forming part of a series of board changes designed to "underpin the delivery of the next phase of global growth". ASOS said the board had "agreed that now is the right time for him to step down" after six years as CEO and 12 years with the business. He had replaced ASOS founder Nick Robertson as CEO in 2015, after Robertson, who remains a board member and shareholder, has resigned from the top job.

ASOS revenues were up 4% in the six months to 28 February, at just over £2 billion, in the face of industry wide supply chain challenges and ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, a performance the UK-based online fashion giant described as "encouraging" and in line with guidance. However profits were hit by rising costs as it slipped to a reported pre-tax loss.