The shine is wearing off two big pandemic winners as trade slows after the end of Covid restrictions.
Online fashion retailer Asos, which boomed during lockdown as high street shops shut, said sales in the six months to February 28 grew just 1 per cent, compared with 24 per cent growth a year earlier.
And food delivery service Deliveroo has seen the average size of orders being made slip 7 per cent from last year as diners flock back to restaurants.
Falling out of fashion? Online fashion retailer Asos, which boomed during lockdown as shops shut, said sales in the six months to February 28 grew just 1%
The shares of both soared through the pandemic, with Asos hitting a 5772p peak last March and Deliveroo briefly hitting 395p in August.
Since, though, Deliveroo is down 58 per cent in the last year and Asos by 70 per cent.
AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson said Asos was looking at ‘the worst backdrop for trading since the global financial crisis’.
Alongside a cost-of-living crisis which will hit its predominantly young and lower-earning customer base, shoppers returned to the High Street.
Sales in the six months to February 28 were just over £2billion, up from just under £2billion a year earlier. It also swung to a £15.8million loss, from a £106.4million profit.
Its decision to shut up shop in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine will lead to a £14million hit.
Hewson said: ‘Asos has gone from an operating profit to a loss, its margins are declining, and it has moved from a net cash to net debt position.
‘That’s not the direction of travel one would expect from the once online retail superstar.’
Even so, the shares were up 4.8 per cent, or 74p, to 1612p.
Deliveroo sales grew in the first three months of 2022 but customers spent less on average, raising questions about its growth prospects.
The value of orders rose 12 per cent from £1.6billion to £1.8billion, and it expects growth for the year to be as high as 25 per cent.
The amount spent per order fell 7 per cent to £21.70. Smaller orders are less profitable for the business.
And Deliveroo doubled down on a warning made last month over soaring inflation, a return to pre-pandemic behaviours and uncertainty caused by war in Ukraine.
Hewson said: ‘The cost-of-living crisis might curb consumer spending in the coming year. This business just hasn’t managed to bring investors with it and would-be investors won’t find much in this new set of results to convince them otherwise.’
Deliveroo shares fell 1.1 per cent, or 1.2p, to 108.25p.
