Online fashion retailer Boohoo appeared immune to the problems enveloping some of its peers as it struck a bullish tone in hiking sales forecasts on Tuesday.
The fast-fashion business, which also owns Pretty Little Thing and Nasty Gal, said sales will grow up to 45% this year, an increase on what the City had previously anticipated.
Rival Asos warned on profits before Christmas, triggering fears that increased discounting and the wider retail struggles were spreading online.
High Street names, including Moss Bros, have reported gloomy trading on a tough Christmas while New Look and Debenhams are shutting stores.
But Boohoo said it had decent sales and profit margins for the four months to December 31. Despite this, there was no change in its profit forecast for the year, with the shares trading down 2.6%, or 5.1p, to 189.4p.
Barclays’ Andrew Ross said: “Bears have something to run with. Boohoo hasn’t seen growth accelerate from the first half despite easier comparables. So although this statement definitely justifies a large outperformance versus ecommerce in recent weeks, it doesn’t necessarily give a big further positive injection.”
