Koovs lifts sales but losses deepen

ONLINE FASHION retailer Koovs has lifted sales, but saw losses widen following the economic upheaval triggered by India’s demonetisation programme.

The London-listed Indian firm said pre-tax losses had deepened to £19.3m for the year ending in March, compared to a £16.7m loss in 2016.

The firm said it had been faced with lower margins and higher costs, while also taking a hit from the impact on the wider market from Indian government efforts to root out illicit cash by cancelling high denomination bank notes.

However, revenues rose 49 per cent over the period to £8.7m, as website traffic jumped 79 per cent to 78.5 million and it secured a 100 per cent growth in repeat customers and orders delivered.

Chief executive Mary Turner said: “We are pleased to have delivered strong sales growth, significantly outperforming India’s e-commerce market by over five times during the period of demonetisation, which affected the whole economy in India.

“The focus for 2018 is to build on these foundations for sustainable growth towards profitability in 2020 and to further capitalise on the unique growth prospects of India’s fashion e-commerce market, for the benefit of our shareholders.”

Koovs has 1.8 million customers and is targeting India’s 18 to 34-year-olds.