£50m bid to become fashion giant

ONLINE upstart Boohoo is seeking £50m from investors to fund a blockbuster warehouse as stellar growth continues.

The company wants to build a £150m store to expand its business. It recently bought US retailer Nasty Gal and Pretty Little Thing – a website set up by its co-founder’s sons.

It said the new facility, scheduled to be completed by 2020, could generate £2bn worth of sales – in addition to the £1bn net sales provided at its Burnley base, which is also to be extended.

As a result, it issued an equity placing to raise £50m and said it expects capital expenditure to be £63m this year compared to previous guidance of £34m.

It came as the fashion firm, which had been growing heavily in the UK and abroad, boasted soaring sales and profits. Sales across the group as a whole were up 106pc to £120.1m in the three months to May 31, compared to £58.2m in the same period the year before.

Boohoo sales increased 48pc to £86.4m while sales in Pretty Little Thing increased by 305pc to £30.7m.

Nasty Gal, which Boohoo acquired for £16m earlier this year, made £2.9m.

It now expects revenue growth for the full year to be around 60pc, ahead of previous guidance of 50pc.