The update from Boohoo Group PLC (AIM:BOO) on Tuesday was both unscheduled and brief but helped the shares continue to recover from last autumn's eight-year lows.
Firstly, the small bolt from the blue stated that trading has remained "in line with market expectations", which, although no further details were given, was likely to be reassuring to investors (including Mike Ashely's Frasers Group) who may have been fearing that the lack of a scheduled new year update boded badly.
But with nothing worse to report, it was taken as a good sign by analysts too.
"We had not anticipated any trading update from BOO this January but, given the ongoing challenges being faced by the online operators, we are encouraged to see that the business is tracking in line with expectations," said Jefferies' Andrew Wade.
The update also revealed that Boohoo has appointed former Betfair, Zoopla and Cazoo man Stephen Morana as chief financial officer, starting on 19 February.
Morana was also a non-executive director at Boohoo from 2014, when it first floated, to 2017.
As he arrives, Shaun McCabe, who himself was moved from NED to CFO in 2020 has stepped down from the role and the board with immediate effect, which the company said was by mutual agreement and thanked him for "his valued contribution to the group".
Analyst Katie Cousins at Shore Capital noted that the previous update from Boohoo was its disappointing interim results in October, which highlighted both operational and strategic progress, including improved margins despite an expected decline in revenues, along with plans to save £125 million a year from better logistics and in-house technology.
"Whilst some profitability progress was achieved in H1, a cautious outlook remains and to account for the ongoing volume contraction the group revised its revenue guidance down from - 5% to a YoY decline of 12-17%," Cousins noted.