Asos shares are back in fashion as they soar 28pc
HAS Asos put its recent troubles behind it?
The internet fashion firm was keen to give that impression as it unveiled full-year results.
It followed months of warehousing problems that have limited how many products it can sell, hampering sales growth.
Such was the disruption that in July it issued its third profit warning in seven months, triggering a massive sell-off that sent shares plunging by 23pc.
But yesterday the stock rebounded as bosses said the worst was over, with shares leaping 28.4pc, or 726p, to 3286p.
That was despite the scale of the damage, a brutal 68pc fall in profits, being laid bare for the first time. Although sales rose from £2.4bn to £2.7bn in the year to August 31, Asos said profits fell from £102m to £33.1m.
This was after spending £221.6m on infrastructure, leading to an increase in its debts.
Nick Beighton, the chief executive of Asos, said: ‘This financial year was a pivotal period for Asos, where we have invested significantly. Regrettably this was more disruptive than we originally anticipated. We are now in a more positive position to start the new financial year.’ Private healthcare firm Mediclinic International was also on the rise after issuing a cheery trading update.
The company said that profits would be better than expected when it reports half-year results next month, after strong performance in southern Africa and the Middle East.
Revenue for the six months to September 30 was about 9pc higher than a year ago, while profits were likely to have risen by 5pc to about £224m. Its shares surged 3.5pc, or 12.5p, to 370.5p.
Miner Rio Tinto was another firm to update investors, reporting a 5pc rise in iron ore shipments that was helped by strong demand from China.
The London-based company shipped 86.1m tonnes of the ore in the three months to the end of September, compared with 81.9m a year earlier.
Iron ore typically accounts for more than 60pc of Rio’s earnings. It said it still expected iron ore shipments for the year of between 320m and 330m tonnes, however, after a global squeeze on supplies started to ease. Shares fell 0.9pc, or 0.8p, to 89.8p.
Meanwhile, political drama affected UK stocks and the pound as Boris Johnson’s frantic attempts to strike an eleventhhour Brexit deal continued.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.6pc, or 43.69 points, to 7167.95, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 dipped 0.05pc, or 9.01 points, to 20,187.96, suggesting traders remain unsure about the outcome. One of the big blue- chip fallers was Auto Trader Group, which sells used cars online.
Its stock dropped 2.7pc, or 15p, to 535.4p after UK inflation data showed the prices of second-hand cars fell by 1.4pc between August and September compared with a rise of 1.4pc a year ago.
Going in the opposite direction were shares in food delivery firm
Just Eat, which edged up 0.4pc, or 2.2p, to 632p after rival Deliveroo was hit by a competition inquiry.
The Competition and Markets Authority announced it was pressing ahead with a merger probe over a multi-million pound investment Amazon wants to make in Deliveroo, concerned that competition would be hampered if Amazon were to gobble up its smaller partner at some point in the future.
Other top movers included troubled car maker Aston Martin, which saw shares surge 7.5pc, or 33.7p, to 480.9p, and BBA Aviation, where shares tumbled 5.2pc, or 16.4p, to 302.2p.