Fast growing online retailer on track to become world leader

Fast growing online retailer Boohoo is on target for sales of £3bn across the globe.

The remarkable success story of the Manchester firm is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.

The company, which was founded in 2006 by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, issued a trading statement this morning.

And the company says it is on track to become one of the world’s biggest fashion brands.

The incredible success has come at a time when traditional high street retailers are fighting for survival.

Revenues in the first quarter were £183.6m, an increase of 53%.

There was strong revenue growth and market share gains across all countries with UK sales up 49% and international up 60%.

Boohoo’s revenue was £97.2 million, up 12% on last year’s record growth.

The PrettyLittleThing brand revenues were £79.2m in the first quarter up 158%.

Nasty Gal revenues were £7.2m up 149% on the same period last year.

According to the statement trading in the first quarter has been strong and in line with expectations.

The company expects group revenue growth to be 35% to 40% with adjusted EBITDA margin between 9% to 10% for the full year.

Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, joint chief executives, said: “We are very pleased with the group’s results for the first quarter of the financial year.

“Our multi-brand strategy is delivering above-market rates of growth globally.

“Significant market share gains have been achieved in all of our key focus markets, with our compelling combination of the latest fashion at incredible prices, backed by great customer service resonating strongly with our customers.

“The scale of group revenue is aligning with our ambition to become one of the dominant global online retailers and our focus on profitability continues to deliver industry-leading margins.

“Our infrastructure continues to see record levels of investment as we invest ahead of our growth curve and develop a distribution network capable of supporting £3bn of net sales globally.

“The distribution centre extension and automation project at Burnley remain on track to complete towards the end of the financial year, with PrettyLittleThing’s move to its own warehouse expected to complete early in the second half of the financial year.

“We remain highly encouraged by our performance in the first quarter and confident of our expectations for the remainder of the year and beyond as we continue to execute on our winning strategy.”