Boohoo lowers full year guidance
Online fashion retailer Boohoo has lowered its full year guidance after total net sales climbed by 10% to £506.2 million in the three months to 30 November.
Sales growth in the UK was strong at 32% although sales in Europe, the US and rest of the world fell by 12%, 14% and 21% respectively due to the impact of longer customer delivery times as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
John Lyttle, Boohoo group chief executive, said: “The strong performance in our core UK market, across both our established and acquired brands, demonstrates the potential to capture and grow market share in key markets. In international markets, our proposition continues to be significantly impacted by ongoing service disruption due to the pandemic, which, in addition to increased recent consumer uncertainty, has weighed on our performance.”
For the year ending 28 February 2022, the group now expects net sales growth to come in at between 12% and 14% compared to a previous guidance of 20% to 25% growth. Boohoo said the emergence of the Omicron Covid-19 variant could result in further demand uncertainty and higher returns rates particularly in January and February.
Meanwhile, adjusted EBITDA margin for the year is expected to be 6% to 7%, compared to a previous guidance of 9% to 9.5%, implying an adjusted EBITDA of between £117 million to £139 million.
Looking ahead, Lyttle said: “The group has gained significant market share during the pandemic. The current headwinds are short term and we expect them to soften when pandemic related disruption begins to ease. We are encouraged by the strong performance in the UK, which clearly validates the boohoo model. Our focus is now on improving the international proposition through continued investment in our global distribution network, capable of delivering in excess of £5 billion of net sales, to support future growth.”
