Koovs PLC Trading update for 01 April to 31 July 2016 (8799I)

TIDMKOOV

RNS Number : 8799I

Koovs PLC

05 September 2016

For Release at 7am BST on 5 September 2016

Koovs plc

Trading update for 01 April to 31 July 2016

KOOVS achieves strong sales* growth of 115% year on year and a significant increase in brand awareness from <1% to 18%

Sales GBP5m/INR473m and weekly web traffic up to 1.4m from 1m

in four months to 31 July

Koovs plc ("Koovs", the "Company" and, together with its subsidiary undertakings, the "Group") (AIM: KOOV), the fashion-forward business focused on the young Indian e-commerce market, today announces a trading update for 17 weeks 01 April to 31 July 2016.

Financial and operational metrics year on year

   --      Sales* up 115% to GBP5m / INR473m. 

-- Brand awareness increased from <1% to 18%, driving website traffic to 1.4m visits per week, increase of 142%,

-- Registered users now 1.2m and social media registered followers 1.7m, both more than doubled.

Koovs' strategy and business plan continue to deliver significant growth in sales and brand awareness. Sales* in this period reached GBP5m/INR473m, 115% up on the same period last year, while Koovs increase in brand awareness to 18% has contributed to a step change in web traffic, registered users and social engagement.

India offers a huge opportunity for ecommerce and online fashion in a rapidly expanding market which is expected to increase five-fold by 2020, to GBP2.5 billion. Koovs 115% sales growth over this period is notably ahead of India's market benchmarks of 50% annual growth in ecommerce, and 75% in online fashion.

Mary Turner, CEO of Koovs plc, says:

"The market for online fashion in India is growing rapidly and Koovs continues to outperform market growth. Our investment in brand marketing is delivering excellent results, significantly increasing brand awareness and establishing a strong platform from which to build brand affinity and customer loyalty."

Delivering strategic goals

Amplifying brand, extending product choice and increasing customer engagement.

Brand: In the last 12 months Koovs has invested in its first major cross-platform brand marketing campaign 'Step into Koovs'. Launched in November 2015, the first phase of this campaign raised brand awareness from below 1% to 8%. The phase two execution from May 2016 has further accelerated Koovs brand profile to 18% - the first step in building brand affinity and engaging new customers.

Product: The company continued with its strategy to expand the Koovs Private Label with the introduction of categories for Fashion Basics and K Denim. In total the number of lines offered by Koovs.com is now 10,000, an increase of 43% year on year. New launches for Autumn include the introduction of Knitwear and Tailoring categories to the Private Label and also Koovs latest designer collaborations with celebrated London illustrator Hattie Stewart and India's Gauri & Nainika, famous for their red carpet and party wear collections.

Designed in London, Koovs own exclusive Private Label is both the fastest-growing and largest single brand accounting for over 42% of all sales, a growth of 160%, further building brand equity and customer loyalty.

Engagement: A key metric in driving future customer transactions is building brand engagement. Koovs cross platform approach is both driving increased traffic to the website and building customer engagement. Today, Koovs has 1.2m registered users and 1.7m registered social followers.

Capital Raising

Koovs continues with its phased capital raising to support the Company's three-year business growth plan.

Waheed Alli, Chairman of Koovs plc, says:

"Over the last four months we have seen evidence of further strong progress across all business metrics, as Koovs continues to win in the fashion-forward e-commerce market for young, style conscious, fashion lovers in India."

Key Performance Indicators

 
                      4 Months       4 Months     Growth    Year ended      Year ended 
                     01/04-31/07    01/04-31/07                March           March 
                        2016           2015                     2016            2015 
                                                           Memorandum(^)   Memorandum(^) 
 Koovs.com               INR 473        INR 220    +115%        GBP10.7m         GBP3.6m 
  sales*                       m              m 
 Weekly visits 
  to the website           1.4 m          0.6 m    +142% 
 Conversion                 1.4%           1.3%      +8% 
 Brand Awareness             18%            <1% 
 Registered 
  Users                    1.2 m          0.4 m     201% 
 Product 
  Range                   10,100          7,200      40% 
                                                          --------------  -------------- 
 

* Gross sales order value placed through the KOOVS.COM website including taxes. This does not represent the revenue of the Group.

^ Sterling equivalent at constant exchange rate of INR94.06 to GBP1.

Notes to Editors

Koovs is focused on building KOOVS.COM into the leading fashion destination in India. The Company is headquartered in London, where the majority of its design and buying team is based, with all other operational functions based in India. The marketing campaign video can be seen at www.youtube.com/koovsdotcom

 
 For further information, 
  please contact: 
 Koovs plc                  Tel: [phone] 
  Mary Turner/Rob Pursell 
 Peel Hunt LLP 
 Dan Webster / George       Tel: [phone] 
  Sellar                     8900 
  Jock Maxwell Macdonald 
  (ECM) 
 Brunswick Group LLP 
 Nick Claydon /Alison       Tel: [phone] 
  Kay                        5959 
 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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September 05, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)