TheChek News Flow

Why online fashion store must sustain its stellar growth rate

In recent weeks, the £4 camisole top on online fashion store Asos’ site has appeared a better autumn purchase than shares in European retailers. Shares in Germany’s Zalando fell after it blamed a long, hot summer for customers delaying the purchase of their winter coats. Superdry customers also appeared to be suffering in the heat, forcing it to warn on profits.

But, rain or shine, the 20-something fashion lovers that make up the Asos customer base have continued to hit that spend button. Pre-tax profits for the year to August 31 rose 28 per cent to £102m, with sales equally strong at £2.3bn. Its share price jumped 16 per cent. True, growth was at the bottom end of a forecast range of 25 per cent to 30 per cent, but healthier than most of its peers. Better, the shares are trading near their five-year low on its forward price-to-earnings ratio.

Asos plans to stay ahead by investing heavily. About £242m, or 10 per cent of sales, went to capital expenditure in the past year alone. Expect more of this in the year ahead as it continues to invest in warehouses. So far, its profit margins have remained buoyant. Its gross margin was up 130 basis points at 49.9 per cent, though boosted by currency movements. But for this investment to make sense, it needs to sustain its stellar growth rate. The merest hint of slower sales growth knocked shares in July.

Every year that task becomes harder. Asos has gone from 9m active customers and £950m sales in 2014 to more than double that in 2018. How many more fashion-conscious 20-year-olds are out there?

Plenty, it seems, particularly on the Continent, where active customers jumped by a quarter to 7.1m. It still has only 1.6 per cent market share there.

Most apparel retailers can sense a storm front coming. Asos should be an exception. Even with Wednesday’s gains, these shares are 25 per cent down on the year, twice as big a drop as the MSCI Europe Retailing index. This looks harsh given its steady performance.

The complete set of self-service data and privacy tools is currently available to customers in the United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland.

1. Head to Apple’s Data and Privacy log in page
2. Log in with the Apple ID for which you’d like to download data
3. Under Get a copy of yourdata, click Get Started
4. Select the data you’d like, and the maximum file size, then click Complete Request

• Your Apple ID account details and sign-in records.
• Data that you store with iCloud such as contacts, calendars, notes, bookmarks, reminders, email, photos, videos, and document.
• App usage information, as it relates to use of iCloud, Apple Music, Game Center and other services.
• A record of the items you have purchased or downloaded from the App Store, iTunes Store, and Apple Books, as well as your browsing history in those stores.
• Records of your Apple retail store and support transactions.
• Records of marketing communications, preferences, and other activity.

Any data that isn’t provided is either in a form that is not personally identifiable or linked to your Apple ID, is stored in an end-to-end encrypted format that Apple cannot decrypt, or is not stored by Apple at all. Additionally, some data may have been held only for a very short time and is no longer on our servers.

Apple strives to collect and store the minimum amount of data required to provide the services you use. Learn more about Apple’s privacy policy and practices.

The Czech businessman, Daniel Kretinsky, is in talks to acquire a stake in French newspaper Le Monde, reported Mlada Fronta Dnes.

The Czech-language item cited information first published on a website of Le Monde. The info was confirmed by Matthieu Piagasse, a French businessman, who together with Xavier Niel owns a controlling stake in the French paper. Piagasse said that he leads exclusive talks with Kretinsky regarding sale of 40-49% stake in holding Le Nouveau Monde, via which the two businessmen own a controlling stake in Le Monde.

The item noted that an unnamed Czech source confirmed Kretinsky intention to acquire Le Monde.

Kretinsky has recently acquired, via its group Czech Media Invest, French magazine Marianne and is about to complete a takeover of a stake in media group Lagardere Group.

Kretinsky is also active on the Czech media market.

Le Monde current circulation is over 300,000 daily.

 Stocks retreated in Asia after benchmark U.S. Treasury yields climbed back toward seven-year highs in wake of minutes of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting. The dollar extended gains while China’s currency hit its weakest since the start of last year.

Equity benchmarks fell in Japan and South Korea, while Chinese stocks tumbled deeper into a bear market. U.S. stock futures slid after a flat session on Wednesday and European futures ticked lower. The British pound declined as Brexit talks between the U.K. and the EU appeared deadlocked. The yuan dipped against the greenback as the U.S. Treasury refrained from naming China a currency manipulator, while at the same time escalating scrutiny of the country’s exchange-rate policy.

US After Hours AA +4.4% higher after earnings while KALU -8.6%, TCBI -7.7% fall lower

Nikkei -0.80% Hang Seng -0.58% CSI -1.74% Shanghai -2.19% Shenzen -1.84%

Eur$ 1.1483 CNH 6.9386 CNY 6.9381 JPY 112.45 GBP 1.3083 RUB 654.6695 CHF 0.9955 TRY 5.6228 WTI$ 69.71 -0.06%

S&P -0.54% EuroStoxx -0.34% FTSE -0.01% Dax -0.46% SMI -0.04%

Macro :

- May Is Said to Weigh Up Extending Brexit Transition Period

- Fed Officials Debated Hiking Rates to Restrictive Territory (1)

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- CA FP : Carrefour 3Q Sales Point to Improvement in France: Bernstein

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- BN FP : Danone Share Price Reaction to 3Q Numbers Is Overdone, RBC Says

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- DBG FP : Derichebourg Agrees to Sell Italy Waste-Treatment Activities

- DIA SM : DIA to Create Spain Executive Management Unit: Statement

- DOM LN : Domino's Pizza Group 3Q Like-for-like U.K. Sales +2.2%

- DUE GY : Duerr Falls More Than 10% on Profit Warning, Target Cut

- ELISA FH : Elisa Raises FY Guidance; 3Q EPS Beats Estimates, Revenue Misses

- ENTRA NO : Entra Third Quarter Rental Income Meets Estimates

- ERICB SS : Ericsson Third Quarter Adjusted Gross Margin Beats Estimates

- FABG SS : Fabege Third Quarter Rental Income Meets Estimates

- FLOW NA : Flow Traders Third Quarter Net Trading Income Misses Estimates

- GIMB BB : Gimv Buys Two German Incontinence-Care Service Provider Cos.

- HFG GY : Hellofresh SE Buys Competitor Chef’s Plate

- HSBA LN : *HSBC SET TO BECOME FIRST FOREIGN COMPANY TO LIST IN CHINA: FT

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- KNIN SW : Kuehne + Nagel Nine Month Ebit CHF745 Mln

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- NESN SW : Nestle Nine Month Organic Revenue Meets Estimates (1)

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- RI FP : Pernod Ricard 1Q Sales EU2.39b; Est. EU2.36b

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- SOI FP : Soitec Surprise 2019 Forecast Boost Backs Buy Rating: Berenberg

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