Asos FY Profit +44%; To Spend GBP20M On Distribution Center

9th Jun 2010 07:25

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Online fashion retailer ASOS PLC (ASC.LN) Wednesday posted a 44% jump in fiscal 2010 pretax profit and said it is to spend GBP20 million on a state-of-the-art distribution center that will have an initial capacity of up to GBP600 million of sales. Asos, whose fashions are targeted at 16 to 34-year-olds, made a pretax profit of GBP20.3 million in the year to March 31, up from GBP14 million a year earlier. Gross margin fell to 41.8% from 43.3% due to a shift in its product mix, a rise in sourcing costs and an extra discount sale. Revenue climbed 35% to GBP223 million from GBP165 million, driven by a 95% surge in international sales to GBP63 million. While profit continued to grow, growth was down from Asos' fiscal 2009 pretax profit growth of 93%. Nonetheless, Asos expects online retail to continue outperforming traditional retail channels and it is to invest in a new distribution hub that is expected to be fully operational by mid-2011. It said it has made a strong start to the current fiscal year, with group retail sales in the nine weeks to June 6 up 58% on the year, driven by a more than doubling of international sales. It is set to launch its U.S. website in September, with French and German websites to follow. -By Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9298; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 09, 2010 02:25 ET (06:25 GMT)