Online fashion flogger ASOS PLC, the flag carrier for London’s Alternative Investment Market, issues full-year figures on Tuesday.
UBS recently upped its price target for the shares from 4,450p to 5,500p, saying the investment case is “evolving into online fast fashion and away from pure brand aggregation, albeit with a degree of edited range and product selection”.
The market is expecting ASOS to announce pre-tax profits of £62.2mln on sales of £1.44bn. Shore Capital is a little more optimistic than that, going for pre-tax profit of £63.1mln, after re-evaluating its expectations over the last two months of the retailer’s financial year.
What’s changed? Well, sterling has taken a bath for one thing, which should prove a boon to the British company.
“On a reported basis we expect to see an acceleration in sales in the US and EU, with currency tailwinds supporting top-line momentum. We have been bullish about the prospects of the business in the former; we view the online fast fashion market in the US as underdeveloped compared with the domestic UK market, thus representing an opportunity for those businesses with a compelling proposition such as ASOS and Boohoo,” the broker said.
Sector peer Burberry reports the same day as ASOS, with Deutsche Bank expecting the company to report like-for-like growth in retail sales for the first time in more than a year.
“Growth may be held back by some recent price cuts, but … these have established a quite healthy global price architecture. Burberry profits should enjoy strong currency tailwinds in FY Mar-17, and we estimate these are now £120mln at spot rates (vs £90mln guidance),” the broker said.
Significant announcements expected
Monday
Interims: Pearson PLC (LON:PSON)
Finals: Avacta Group PLC (LON:AVCT), Tristel Plc (LON:TSTL)
Tuesday
Finals: ASOS PLC (LON:ASC), Bellway PLC (LON:BWY), Connect Group PLC (LON:CNCT), dotDigital Group (LON:DOTD)
Trading statement: Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY), Informa PLC (LON:INF)
Wednesday
Interims: U and I Group PLC (LON:UAI)
Trading statement: Reckitt Benckiser PLC (LON:RB.), Travis Perkins PLC (LON:TPK)
Thursday
Interims: Lombard Risk Management plc (LON:LRM), London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LON:LSE), Photo-Me International plc (LON:PHTM)
Friday
Interims: Acacia Group PLC (LON:AVCT)
Trading statement: InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (LON:IHG)