FASHION SHARES SINK AFTER SALES DISAPPOINT

SHARES in fashion firms Asos and Bonmarche slumped after they issued disappointing updates.

Womenswear chain Bonmarche has admitted that full-year losses are now expected to swell to as much as £6m, compared with previous forecasts of £4m.

Bonmarche blamed poor demand for so-called ‘transitional’ ranges sold between winter and spring for recent disappointing sales.

It had already downgraded fullyear forecasts in September and again in December. Its shares plummeted by 20.3pc, or 7.5p, to 29.5p following yesterday’s announcement.

Meanwhile, online retailer Asos’s shares tumbled 7.3pc, or 236p, to 2979p following a slowdown in its sales growth.

Despite an 13pc jump in sales to £658.5m in the three months to February 28, investors were disappointed by slower sales in the UK and the firm’s struggling French and German divisions.

And a delivery backlog in the US caused sales in the country to fall 3pc to £76.6m.