City focuses on Boohoo as online giant hopes to defy retail gloom

Online fashion giant Boohoo looks set to defy the gloom hanging over Britain’s retail industry later this week when it is expected to post another quarter of sharp sales growth.

The City will be turning its attention towards the e-commer giant to see whether its festive fortunes were enough to buck a current trend of dismal trading results within the retail sector.

The Manchester-based retailer is expected to report 40 per cent growth in its third-quarter sales following a record Black Friday, according to analyst forecasts from Jeffries.

The results this Tuesday are set to come less than a month after the retailer rushed out a trading statement to reassure investors that the company was in line with expectations, following a shock profit warning from its e-commerce peer Asos.

Shares in Boohoo were dragged down as much as 20 per cent following the trading update from Asos.

The Share Centre said that “the profit warning from online clothing retailer Asos in December came as a surprise to many and focused the market’s attention on a part of the retail sector that many investors assumed was still performing well”.

High street rival Primark is also set to report back on its recent retail performance this week, having previously echoed the concerns of its industry last month after warning of “challenging” trading conditions.

Last week a swathe of Britain’s major retailers posted a mix bag of results from the last several months, with M&S and Debenhams both reporting a fall in sales during the crucial Christmas trading period.