Shares of Manchester-based online fashion giant Boohoo Group plc rose about 10% on Wednesday after it said its revenue soared 44% to £1.235 billion in the year to ended February 29, 2020, and profit before tax rose 54% to £92.2 million.
Revenue at the Boohoo brand rose 38% to £600.7 million, while revenue at the group’s PrettyLittleThing brand rose 38% to £516.3 million and its Nasty Gal brand saw its revenue soar 106% to £98.8 million.
In its outlook, Boohoo said: “The group saw a strong end to the financial year ended 29 February 2020 and in the first two weeks of FY21 this trading momentum was maintained.
“Since the middle of March, trading has been mixed, as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, initially with a marked decrease in year-on-year growth.
“Performance has improved in more recent weeks and we are now seeing improved year-on-year growth of group sales during April.
“We remain cautious regarding our outlook, as a result of the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Given the uncertainty generated by the continually-evolving COVID-19 pandemic, it is not appropriate to provide guidance for the financial year ending 28 February 2021 at this stage.
“The group has taken steps to understand, as far as possible, the risks and impact that the pandemic may potentially have on its operations, analysing a range of scenarios, factoring in a downturn in demand and the possibility of warehouse closures.
“Although it is not possible to predict precisely the impact from COVID-19, we have ensured that we have stress-tested our liquidity under these scenarios.
“From this, we are comfortable that the group has sufficient financial headroom, benefitting from its largely variable cost base, low cash burn rate and strong balance sheet with £241 million of net cash at year end.”
Boohoo Group shares rose about 30p to around 300p to give the Manchester firm a current stock market value of roughly £3.2 billion.
Boohoo Group CEO John Lyttle said: “Whilst recent events have understandably overshadowed what has been a great year for boohoo, they have also highlighted its key strengths.
“Our business is founded on our ability to be agile and flexible and it is at times like this when these abilities are tested, and I am proud of how our colleagues and business partners from around the world have responded to the challenges posed by this pandemic.
“Although there is near-term uncertainty in the markets that we operate in, the group is underpinned by its incredibly strong balance sheet and is well-placed to leverage its scalable multi-brand platform and to continue to disrupt fashion markets around the world.”