NOW ASOS PLANS A BAG FOR LIFE FOR LOYAL CUSTOMERS

ONLINE retailer Asos will cut down on plastic by introducing reusable bags as sales to its customers in their twenties passed £1bn for the first time.

Nick Beighton, chief executive of Asos, said it was exploring ways of limiting excessive plastic usage by giving customers ‘bags for life’.

‘You send it back to us and we send stuff back in the same bag,’ he explained. ‘I’ve got no specific targets that I want to share but what I can say to you is: this is something deeply personal to me and its shared by the Asos business, and it will be shared increasingly by our customers,’ Beighton added.

He said the firm used too much plastic in its deliveries and last year shipped over 50m orders, most of which were in plastic carrier bags.

Beighton said Asos was also looking at recycling plastic to make products like swimwear.

Asos proved it was still in fashion as revenues surged 27pc to £1.2bn during the six months to February 28 and profits swelled 10pc to £29.9m.

Shares plunged as much as 10pc on the results as plans to shell out between £230m and £250m on new technology and expansion into the US surprised investors.

Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said a tendency to underestimate capital expenditure by tens of millions was ‘disappointing’, adding: ‘However, this will hopefully prove short-lived.’

Asos is close to completing development of its US warehouse in Atlanta.

International sales grew 31pc to £716.8m compared with UK sales, which were up 22pc to £414.5m.