Asos Share Discussion Threads

[woodie3] 17/12/2015 15:58

interesting one for me is the 29% stake 8% stake will he have to offload for ex-wife?

[williemanjaro] 17/12/2015 13:34

Looking woodie--strong market performance in December usually is met with a hangover in January/February....so not chasing.Nick Robertson, what we he do with his 8% stake? Would be interesting to know the game plan.

[woodie3] 17/12/2015 10:14

are you back in Willie?

[williemanjaro] 17/12/2015 09:34

Peel Hunt £40 target.

[harebridge] 17/12/2015 09:09

A good recovery here after the general drop in the sector yesterday.

[saturn5] 16/12/2015 18:40

So whats going on Willie ?

T/O coming ?

[williemanjaro] 16/12/2015 14:35

unchanged pattern from June 2014----up down -down up....•¿;•)

[woodie3] 16/12/2015 13:30

does not know which way to go up or down

[izztre] 16/12/2015 13:02

So why the dip today?

[donaferentes] 15/12/2015 22:27

Looks like everyone just realised cheap oil is good for ASC - after yesterday;s sharp dip - back up we go!

[harebridge] 15/12/2015 15:04

Having a great run since the Barclays note

[harebridge] 18/11/2015 09:47

Asos becomes Barclays' top pickAsos becomes Barclays' top pickhttp://citywire.co.uk/money/the-expert-view-standard-chartered-lloyds-and-asos/a858866?ref=citywire-money-latest-news-list#i=3Asos (ASOS) has become a top pick for Barclays as the online fashion retailer is set for a strong year.Barclays analyst Christodoulos Chaviaras retained his 'overweight' recommendation ad target price of £45.00 on the shares, which rose 2% to £32.00 yesterday'We replace Dixons Carphone with Asos as our top pick,' he said. 'Positive feedback from last week's fashion preview for spring/summer 2016, strong current trading and a solid outlook into full year 2016 reassures us that Asos has started the year on a strong note.'Our recent trips to Europe and the US reveal improved investor sentiment, which could get better into year-end as Asos is well prepared ahead of peak season with new collections and faces easy comparisons in the first quarter. Our analysis shows that the sales growth guidance of c.20% in full-year 2016 is a good starting point and higher growth can be achieved. Asos can resume double digit earnings growth in full year 2016.'

[dlku] 05/11/2015 10:49

Supergroup SGP


16 December 2015
2016 Interim Results


Put that date in the diary

[harebridge] 28/10/2015 23:04

BOO is better value & at a better stage of growth, but you cannot ignore the rise here. Seems like internet retailers are the place to be.

[rackers1] 24/10/2015 22:16

Can someone tell me why this is better value than boo? I keep an eye on a couple of very hot tipsters on advfn and to me the argument for investment at the moment very much lies with boo. Can anyone here argue against?
Thanks.

[carbon man] 24/10/2015 18:15

Why does this stock still not pay Dividends?

[woodie3] 22/10/2015 08:24

Date

Broker

New target

Recomm.


22 Oct Deutsche Bank 3,800.00 Hold
21 Oct Investec 3,400.00 Hold
21 Oct Barclays... 4,500.00 Overweight
21 Oct Nomura 3,110.00 Neutral
21 Oct JP Morgan... 4,000.00 Overweight
20 Oct Numis 4,250.00 Buy
20 Oct Canaccord... 3,250.00 Hold
20 Oct Cantor... 3,000.00 Hold
20 Oct Liberum Capital 3,300.00 Buy

[woodie3] 20/10/2015 20:39

Steve Clayton | 20 October 2015 | A A A





ASOS - Getting through the growing pains

No recommendation

No news or research item is a personal recommendation to deal. All investments can fall as well as rise in value so you could get back less than you invest.



Asos plc Ordinary 3.5p

Sell: 3,171.00 | Buy: 3,174.00 | Change 246.00 (8.40%)
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Market closed | Prices as at close on 20 Oct 2015 | Switch to live prices
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Full year results released today, October 20, show sales up 18% at £1,151m driven by a strong UK performance of +27%, whilst profit before tax was just 1% higher at £47.5m as the cost of investing in international capabilities and competitiveness took their toll on near term earnings. Looking forward, ASOS says the current year has started well and expects sales to rise around 20%, with continuing gross margin investment leading to a similar profit margin to the year just ended. Such an outcome would be quite close to current market consensus forecasts.

The shares responded with a gain of around 1%

Sales showed an improving trend as the year progressed and the group ended with 27% UK retail sales growth and 11% overseas. Non-retail revenues were stronger, reflecting a 61% surge in delivery income. Strip out the impact of currency moves and international retail sales were 17% ahead.

In the end, the squeeze on ASOS was not as bad as it might have been. Gross margins only dipped by 10 basis points, because despite the investments made into improving the customer proposition and international capabilities, full price sales were stronger than might have been feared, earlier in the year.

One of ASOS's difficulties had been that a sharp rise in sterling had damaged price competitiveness in overseas markets. A big push in the current year has been to introduce zonal pricing, so that a given brand will be competitive, wherever it is being sold. The company have so far been able to introduce this for 113 of their carried brands, across Australia, the USA and the top four Eurozone markets.

The business targets twenty-somethings, and has always been driven by e-commerce, but increasingly, transactions are coming from mobile devices. 5.4m downloads of the mobile app were made last year, and in August 2015 the majority of traffic, and 44% of orders on the site came from mobile platforms. Improvements to the mobile checkout function are due, along with more app developments to highlight new designs, fresh to the store.

Growth comes at a cost, and ASOS invested £50m into warehousing and international distribution capacity last year. In the current year, they are accelerating their plans, with a spend of £80m expected to push their Eurohub project further forwards.

The balance sheet remains solid; the group had no borrowings at any point during the year, and ended with £119m of cash.

Our view:

Customers the world over like the Asos offer. At a price. The reacceleration of sales growth internationally since Asos began its zonal pricing is impressive, but it has come at the expense of margins and that, we feel has been its Achilles heel. But the company is now suggesting that the squeeze is moderating; margins should be flat this year, because operational leverage is compensating for ongoing high investment into the proposition.

All the same, operating margins are set to be no more than about 5% all the way out to at least FY2018 on current consensus numbers. Whilst that should not prevent Asos from throwing off cash, in truth most of the expected rise in cash balances is a function of not paying shareholders any dividends.

Asos had some pretty serious growing pains, but now looks to be emerging intact, if not unscathed. Once it has rolled out all of its international supply chain and distribution investments it should be able to earn a higher, more sustainable margin, though this is still some way off.

Asos stands in a position of strength; its customers love what it does. It will take time for it to finish building the infrastructure it needs. But when it gets there, Asos should be a powerful contender. But it needs to be, for the stock is still trading on around 55x current year earnings according to Bloomberg. Nor is Asos without competition, with online fashion retailers emerging all the time. But Asos has a scale that others lack, generating more than five times the sales of rival Boohoo.com.

Asos still has much to prove; to justify its current lofty rating, which is over three times the market average PE, the company will need to deliver many years of reliable growth. But the business does seem to be getting over those earlier growing pains and should emerge with robust supply chains and distribution capabilities across the globe. At some point it would be nice to see a dividend from Asos, but at the moment, keeping powder dry to support investment in growth still seems fair. We are warming to Asos; it is delivering on the investments it said it would make and its customers are still clamouring for more. It could be in a worse place.

Highlights:

Sales showed an improving trend as the year progressed and the group ended with 27% UK retail sales growth and 11% overseas. Non-retail revenues were stronger, reflecting a 61% surge in delivery income. Strip out the impact of currency moves and international retail sales were 17% ahead.

In the end, the squeeze on ASOS was not as bad as it might have been. Gross margins only dipped by 10 basis points, because despite the investments made into improving the customer proposition and international capabilities, full price sales were stronger than might have been feared, earlier in the year.

One of ASOS's difficulties had been that a sharp rise in sterling had damaged price competitiveness in overseas markets. A big push in the current year has been to introduce zonal pricing, so that a given brand will be competitive, wherever it is being sold. The company have so far been able to introduce this for 113 of their carried brands, across Australia, the USA and the top four Eurozone markets.

The business targets twenty-somethings, and has always been driven by e-commerce, but increasingly, transactions are coming from mobile devices. 5.4m downloads of the mobile app were made last year, and in August 2015 the majority of traffic, and 44% of orders on the site came from mobile platforms. Improvements to the mobile checkout function are due, along with more app developments to highlight new designs, fresh to the store.

Growth comes at a cost, and ASOS invested £50m into warehousing and international distribution capacity last year. In the current year, they are accelerating their plans, with aspend of £80m expected to push their Eurohub project further forwards.

The balance sheet remains solid; the group had no borrowings at any point during the year, and ended with £119m of cash.

All yield figures are variable and not guaranteed

[liquidkid] 20/10/2015 15:21

Still ranting on about Price Investment

Trade Payables up 25% to (232,542)
Inventories up 20% 193,769

Inventory to Working Capital improved to 1.94 prev 2.14

Payments to acquire other intangible assets steady at (32,4m) (prev 32,6)

Continuing accumulation of 'dubious' other intangible assets
£75.1m up 20% (up £12mn)
Whilst at the same time
amortisation of other intangible assets £14.8m prev £9.5m bigups cash flow

The Inventory looks a bit large in this it might be stretching itself to fit into Barflays new Overweight size of £45 (less than half price!)

[market sniper1] 20/10/2015 14:03

On the rise again.

[market sniper1] 20/10/2015 12:52

ASC BROKER UPGRADE....and from one of the better Brokers..

20 Oct 2015 ASOS Plc ASC Numis Buy 3,164.50 2,928.00 4,250.00 4,250.00 Upgrades

[market sniper1] 20/10/2015 12:38

ASC As Seen On Screen

Results this morning (below) well received by the market, the stock looks to have plenty of upside as long as discretionary spending does not get hit by economic matters in the future.





Broker Cantor: HOLD

Final results were broadly in line with our and market expectations. Pre-tax profits in the year to end of August rose by 1% to £47.5m vs. CFE Research £48.0m (Company consensus: £47.2m). Gross margins were reported to be up by 20bps to 49.9% (CFE Research -8bps) recovering strongly in the second half as a result of a strong full price sales mix in this period. Gross margins, however, declined by 230bps in Europe to counter adverse currency exchange movements. Costs were up by 21% impacted by higher payroll and warehousing charges offset by lower marketing. Net cash was much stronger than our forecast at £119.2m benefiting from working capital gains. The current year has started well and the company are guiding toward sales being up by 20%, gross margins being down by 50bps and operating margins being in line with the previous year at broadly 4.1%, which implies earnings growth of c.20%.
Following this update, we are retaining our FY2016 pre-tax profit forecast of £58.0m (EPS: 53.7p). The stock, which has declined from a high of £42, has started to recover from September’s low of £25. The company is now of a meaningful size with sales forecast at over £1.3bn in FY2016, has relatively strong cashflow and a ‘state of the art’ logistics infrastructure. Earnings, however, have declined over the last two years and although they are set to improve in the current year, the improvement in momentum, we believe, is priced into the stock. The departure of Nick Robertson as Chief Executive, who was the ‘guiding light’ of the business, is an added concern. The stock remains highly valued at 54.5x our FY2016 fully diluted earnings forecasts. We are reinstating our recommendation as HOLD from Under Review and our TP at 3000p from Under Review.