ASOS PLC (LSE:ASC) did little to buck the online fashion trend with a trading update on Tuesday.
Sales in the six months to 3 March were down 18% for the online retailer, though this was hardly unexpected, given a resurgence in high-street shopping and ongoing cost of living pressures.
ASOS is at pains to clear aged stock and reduce inventory before transitioning to a new operating model in 2025, the group stated in the update.
This helped the group’s net cash position, with a balance of £330 million, an improvement of more than £20 million a year earlier.
Chief executive José Antonio Ramos Calamonte said: "ASOS is becoming a faster and more agile business, aided by the incredible work of our teams to speed up all of our processes to deliver the fashion, quality and prices that our customers want, when they want it.
“I'm excited by the performance of our new collections, while we have also made great progress in monetising inventory that built up over the pandemic and in improving the core profitability of our operations.”
ASOS kept its full-year guidance unchanged, forecasting a 5-15% sales decline, positive adjusted EBITDA, inventory back to pre-COVID levels, and positive cash generation, reducing net debt.
Shares are down 13% this year and are unlikely to be bolstered by these results