Asos gains from strong overseas growth

The online fashion retailer Asos has posted higher quarterly sales and said it remains on course to meet full-year profit hopes as strength in its overseas business offset signs of a slowdown in the UK.

The company, which is often mooted as a big target for high-street retailers and other websites, said retail sales over the three months to the end of September were up 47 per cent in year-on-year terms. The uptick was driven by the overseas business, where sales growth accelerated to 128 per cent from 111 per cent, aided by the launch of a US website. British sales growth, on the other hand, eased to 21 per cent from 32 per cent.

"Our US website launched during September and we expect to be live with both our French and German websites by the end of October," Asos chief executive Nick Robertson said. "With retail gross margin ahead of [the] prior year and costs tightly managed, we expect our full-year results to be in line with market expectations."