Comment: Asos looks well placed for growth as Nick Beighton takes the helm

In contrast to some new chief executives, Asos’s Nick Beighton won’t be indulging in any kitchen-sinking.

Beighton, who succeeded founder Nick Robertson at the helm of the fashion etailer last month, is confident in strategy and direction – no surprise perhaps, since he has been at the business, first as finance boss and then as chief operating officer, since 2009.

Having addressed alongside Robertson some of the big headaches facing the business, such as the need for localised pricing in international markets, Beighton will instead dedicate much of his energies to executional excellence at home and abroad.

Positive prelims

The measurements as revealed in this week’s prelims look as if they are all going the right way.

Order numbers, average selling price and average basket value all climbed over the past year, when the number of active customers advanced by 13% and visits to the Asos site rose 19% to break through the one billion barrier.

Although sales increased by 18% last year, profit before tax was only ahead by 1%. That however reflects investment in the business such as warehousing and people.

Encouragingly, full-price sales were strong last year which, Asos reported, reflected “improved customer confidence in our product and prices”.

The reduced need for promotions meant that the retail gross margin decline was 10 basis points, despite investment in lower prices in the eurozone and other international markets.

Continuity announcement

Beighton said it is business as usual at Asos following the leadership change. Although Asos has had its problems over the past few years, its fundamental proposition remains strong so it makes sense to focus on improvements to execution.

Asos has great foundations to build upon. It is a past master of online customer engagement and keyed in to the rapid growth of mobile commerce – 44% of orders were made over mobile platforms last year.

Such focus on how the customer engages and spends with Asos, and how to position the business so it can even better respond and anticipate that, should allow the etailer to push on towards its next sales milestone of £2.5bn.