Boohoo Q1 revenues fall short of strong prior year comparatives

Retailer Boohoo said on Thursday that revenues had declined in the three months ended 31 May due to lockdown-fuelled buying at the same time a year earlier but were up 75% over the three-year pre-pandemic period, in line with prior guidance.

Boohoo said group revenues had slipped 8% in the quarter to £445.7m, with UK revenues slipping 1% to £272.1m, rest of Europe revenues dropping 7%, US revenues down 26% at £95.0m. Rest of world revenues, on the other hand, advanced 15% to £29.0m. On a three-year period, total revenues were up 75%.

The AIM-listed firm noted that international performance continued to be impacted by increased delivery times, although wholesale drove growth in ROW and contributed to its performance in the rest of Europe.

Boohoo also added that gross demand growth remained positive against tough comparatives, up 9% year-on-year, with net sales impacted by the ongoing normalisation of returns due to product mix change.

Gross margin slipped 220 basis points to 52.8% over the three-month period against "a strong prior year comparative" but was up 240 basis points versus the second half of the previous financial year.

Boohoo added that its outlook for the year ending 28 February remained unchanged, with revenue growth expected be low-single digits, with a return to growth in the second quarter and growth rates improving in the second half as it annualises high returns rates and normalising consumer demand. Adjusted underlying margins were expected to be between 4% and 7% as it continues to feel the impacts of pandemic-related and inflationary factors.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com