Fast fashion pioneer has changed habits but is yet to prove it can reliably make decent returns on capital
After two decades as a public company, you’d think Asos, “the world’s leading fashion destination for twentysomethings”, would be showing signs of maturity and stability by now. But it isn’t. A pattern keeps repeating: every time the online retailer appears to have achieved lift-off in profits and share price, disaster strikes.
Back in 2014, the problem was a hit to margins for a few years to fund investment: the stock collapsed from £70 to £20 in no time. By 2018, optimism had returned as £100m of annual profits were seen for the first time and the shares soared to £77. Cue woes with new warehouses in Atlanta and Berlin and a plunge to £22.
