Big boost for Covid winners
ASOS AND JUST EAT SEE PROFITS LEAP
LOCKDOWN-HIT Brits stocked up on jogging bottoms and takeaways if soaraway sales from two big firms yesterday are anything to go by.
Online fashion g i ant ASOS expects at least a £ 40mil lion boost to halfyear profits as stuck- at- home shoppers resorted to comfy clothes.
Meanwhile, the owner of online food delivery giant Just Eat said UK orders jumped 58 per cent in the final three months of last year, as the pandemic sent demand surging.
ASOS sales leapt 24 per cent to more than £1.3billion in the final four months of last year, with UK takings up 36 per cent.
Boss Nick Beighton said, as well as jogging bottoms, customers rushed to order mum and 90s-style jeans, but the lockdown has hammered demand for going-out clothes, a big area for ASOS.
Beighton said: “Sequins have not been a trend during Christmas, it’s been more jersey dresses.”
Just Eat said it had processed 56million orders in the past four months, taking the total for 2020 to 179million.
Owner Just Eat Takeaway.com said it had put “tremendous effort” into improving its UK business and has signed up McDonald’s and Greggs.
The Dutch-based firm said global orders rose 57 per cent and total fourth-quarter revenues rose by more than 60 per cent to between £643million and £661million.
JD Sports is in talks with US firm Authentic Brands Group about joining forces to buy Topshop, the jewel in the crown of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia empire, according to Sky News.