boohoo more than doubles interim revenues

Fast-growing fast fashion etailer boohoo more than doubled its revenues in the six months to 31 August and as a result of the strong performance has upped its full-year revenue growth guidance.

The Manchester-based business achieved revenues of £262.9m, up 106% on the same period last year. Gross profit was up 99% at £140.2m and operating profit up 42% at £20m.

Its recent acquistions PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal were also performing strongly, with a better than expected results from the former. PrettyLittleThing achieved revenues of £72.7m, up 289%, while Nasty Gal, the US-founded brand whose IP and selected assets it bought out of bankruptcy at the start of the year, achieved a revenue of £8.4million, increasing month-on-month from start-up in March.

On the back of the strong performance the business has raised its full-year guidance to a predicted rise in revenue of 80% (previous guidance: 60%). Revenue growth from the boohoo brand is expected to be at the upper end of previous guidance at around 30%. Revenue growth from the PrettyLittleThing brand is now expected to be approximately 150% above the 12 month revenue to 28 February 2017 of £55m (double the previous guidance of 75%). The balance of the group’s growth will come from the Nasty Gal brand.

"We are pleased to report excellent progress for the group in the first half of the year across all our brands. boohoo’s revenue has continued to grow across all geographies, with international growth being strongest as we continue to increase our market share overseas, and the newly acquired PrettyLittleThing brand has exceeded our growth expectations," said joint CEOs Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane in a statement.

"PrettyLittleThing is fast gaining recognition amongst our target consumers as a highly desirable fashion brand in the UK, and its international growth is very encouraging, confirming its considerable potential. boohooMan has also performed very well, with high growth rates in the UK and overseas. Nasty Gal was rebuilt by us from virtually a zero base after acquisition in March this year and it is growing well month-on-month," they added.

The business has been making considerable investment in IT and logistics infrastructure to support its growth and "and plans are progressing well for the next phase of longer term requirements for warehouse capacity", it said.