Online fashion retail giant announces appointment of deputy chairman

Manchester-based online fashion retail group Boohoo has appointed Brian Small as deputy chairman, and announced record trading for the last four months of 2019.

Mr Small is an existing independent non-executive director, appointed in April 2019, and currently serves as chair of the group’s audit committee.

In his role as deputy chairman he will lead the non-executive directors on matters where independence is required, as outlined in the group’s 2019 annual report, assisting group executive chairman Mahmud Kamani.

He will continue to perform his duties as chair of the audit committee until the financial accounts for financial year 2019/20 are finalised and published and a new audit committee chair can be appointed.

Mr Small has extensive board expertise having previously served for 15 years as CFO of JD Sports.

Prior to this, he held various executive positions at businesses including Intercare Group, Knightlow Group, and Barr and Wallace Arnold Trust, among others.

Mr Small is currently audit chair and a trustee of Retail Trust, a retail industry charity.

His other non-executive positions include Pendragon and Mothercare, where he also holds the position of audit chair.

He qualified as an accountant with Price Waterhouse in 1981.

Mahmud Kamani said: “Brian has been an important asset to the board since his appointment in 2019 and we are delighted that someone with the depth of his board experience is to fulfil the role of deputy chairman.”

The appointment was announced with a trading update for the four months to December 31, 2019, that showed a 44% increase in revenues of £473.7m, up from £328.2m a year ago.

Revenues at Boohoo were £232.6m, up 42%, PrettyLittleThing revenues were £190.8m, up 32%, while Nasty Gal reported revenues of £41.5m, up 102%.

Boohoo said it has a strong balance sheet with net cash of £245m, against £207m by August 31, 2019.

It also reported the successful integration and re-launch of MissPap, Karen Millen and Coast onto its multi-brand platform.

Group revenue growth for the financial year to February 29, 2020, is expected to be 40% to 42%, ahead of previous guidance of 33% to 38%.

The group expects the group adjusted EBITDA margin to be 10.0% to 10.2%, ahead of previous guidance of around 10%.

All other guidance for the current financial year and the medium term guidance to deliver sales growth of 25% per annum and 10% EBITDA margin remains unchanged.

Chief executive John Lyttle said: “I am delighted to report the group has enjoyed record trading in the last four months of 2019.

“All of our brands have performed exceptionally well and delivered strong market share gains.

“We have continued to see operating leverage in our more established brands, and will continue to invest into them and our newly-acquired brands.

“The newly-acquired brands, MissPap, Karen Millen and Coast, are showing great promise and open different target markets for the group, in line with our strategy to build our multi-brand platform.”

Russ Mould, investment director at Manchester investment platform AJ Bell, said: “Online ‘fast fashion play’ Boohoo shows no signs of slowing down.

“At a time when many traditional clothing retailers are struggling, the company is continuing to prove the benefits of its purely online operation, emerging as one of the sector winners from the crucial festive period.

“Impressively, growth is actually accelerating from the Autumn according to a four-month update encompassing Christmas and Black Friday trading. Against this backdrop a very modest retreat in margins is likely to be forgiven by the market.

“The business has demonstrated its ability to move quickly to respond to the fluctuating tastes of the young women which represent its core demographic of 16- to 24-year-olds.

“This group will benefit from an increased National Living Wage and they are arguably less burdened by things like mortgages and children. As such, they may have enough disposable income to be able to regularly shop at Boohoo given its products are relatively inexpensive.

“Smaller brand Nasty Gal is the star of the show in the latest trading update, but the more established Pretty Little Thing and eponymous Boohoo brands are also churning out impressive levels of growth.

“Attempts to branch out by acquiring once-successful high street brands Coast and Karen Millen are as yet unproven.

“If successful this could offer another avenue of growth for the company, with the potential to pick up other ailing high street operations with lingering brand appeal on the cheap.”