Asos Says Full-Year Sales Will Be at High End of Forecast

LONDON, United Kingdom — Asos Plc, the U.K.'s biggest online-only fashion retailer, said it expects full-year sales will be at the higher end of its forecast range as price cuts abroad lure customers.

Asos expects revenue growth to be closer to the top end of 20 percent than to 15 percent, the London-based company said in a statement Tuesday. Retail sales advanced 20 percent in the four months through June, led by sales in its home market. That matched the median of 18 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

"We have increased investment in our people and our customer proposition," Chief Executive Officer Nick Robertson said in the statement. He said he expects earnings before interest and taxes to be about 4 percent of sales.

Asos, which sells Vivienne Westwood clothing and Vans shoes targeted at twenty-somethings, has introduced local pricing to better adjust to currency swings, as it needed to reduce prices in Australia, New Zealand and the euro zone this fiscal year given the strength of the pound. That strategy plus investments to speed up shipping contributed to a 10 percent drop in first- half pretax profit, Asos said in April.

The company said its full-year gross margin will be in line with last year’s.

The retailer has changed how it reports interim trading, now commenting on the first four months of each half-year period rather than the first three months.

By Katarina Gustafsson; editors: Matthew Boyle; Thomas Mulier and Paul Jarvis.