ASOS delivered another strong performance during the five months to 31st August, with growth in both sales and profits across all territories. Total retail sales were up 32 per cent to £321 million, while profit before tax and exceptional items was up 42 per cent to £13.2 million. International sales growth continues to drive performance and now accounts for 65 per cent of total retail sales compared to 59 per cent in the comparative period. What’s more, the USA was the fastest growing segment within retail sales up 72 per cent during the period.
Trading was also positive at department-store chain Debenhams, which announced a 2.6 percent increase in total sales to £2.7 billion in the year ended
1st September. Group pretax profit was up 4.2 per cent to £158.3 million.
Even more good news is set to be announced later today when prime minister David Cameron is expected to reveal that the UK is out of recession. In an estimate of how the UK economy performed in the third quarter of the year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed a return to growth of 1 per cent following a 0.4 per cent contraction in GDP in the previous period, reports Sky News.
And finally to conclude our happy roundup, the BRC-Bond Pearce Retail Employment Monitor (REM) indicates that retail employment rose by 2.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2012 compared with a year earlier. This is the fastest growth in two years, equivalent to 20,533 additional full-time jobs in the surveyed retailers.
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