Boohoo sails past £1bn sales mark after ‘fantastic’ first half

Online fashion retailer Boohoo has cheered a “fantastic” first half as it notched up more than £1 billion in sales for the first time.

The teen fashion brand said revenues overall jumped 43% in the half-year to August 31, which meant it hit the £1 billion milestone over the past 12 months.

Underlying earnings lifted 53% to a better-than-expected £60.7 million, while pre-tax profits jumped 83% to £45.2 million.

It told the market earlier this month that sales growth was outstripping its own forecasts, though it stuck by full-year profits expectations in its latest trading update.

Boohoo is seen growing underlying earnings to £115.1 million over the full year.

John Lyttle, chief executive of Boohoo, said: “It has been a fantastic first half of the year for the group.

“We have delivered significant market share gains across all of our key markets, and for the first time in our history, revenue has exceeded £1 billion in the last 12 months.

“We enter the second half of the year well-placed and confident,” he added.

Shares in the retailer – founded in Manchester in 2006 by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane – slipped 2%, though this comes after recent impressive gains has seen Boohoo’s market value overtake rival Asos.

Boohoo’s first half results showed sales growth of 41% for PrettyLittleThing and 148% for Nasty Gal – the brands it bought in 2017.

Its core Boohoo business saw revenues rise 34%.

The group confirmed recently acquired chains Karen Millen and Coast – which it snapped up in August – will begin trading online next month.

Its acquisition of the brands has been watched with interest, given their current High Street focus and older clientele.

Boohoo also said MissPap, which it bought in March, had seen revenues start to grow “rapidly since go-live in April”.

Caroline Gulliver, an analyst at Jefferies, said Boohoo had delivered a “stunning” performance.

She added: “Other retailers may suffer from weak consumer confidence and hot weather, but Boohoo has posted an acceleration in total sales growth.”