Shein A Light!

‘Fast fashion’ retailer Shein, which was formerly based in China but is now based in Singapore, has reported that its UK business achieved more than £1bn in sales last year as it expands across the UK.

They posted a pre-tax profit of £12.2m in the 16 months to 31 December 2022, as revenue topped £1.1bn, according to Companies House.

Whilst initially based predominantly online, Shein set up its British division in September 2021 and commenced trading the next month. It has traded three pop-up shops in London and has announced that it would open 30 new pop-ups across the UK.

Perhaps an unlikely player in the mix is friend of the NTI newsroom, Mike Ashley. Shein are reportedly in talks to buy Missguided from Ashley’s Frasers Group, less than 18 months after his retail empire bought Missguided out of Administration.

In other fashion news, ASOS is closing its online outlet department as it looks to focus on key strategic brands to improve profitability. They currently employ 15 people in this area of the business, and have entered into a 30-day consultation period with them. This comes as they had announced a return to profitability in June, and this brings us to our ‘friend’ Mr Ashley again.

His Frasers Group has recently increased its stake in rival fashion retailer Boohoo from 9.1% to 10.4% due to its “laser focus on young female consumers”, and has also increased its stake in ASOS from 19.3% to 19.8%. 

These acquisitions seem to be working for Frasers; they announced back in July that their profits had nearly doubled for the year ending 30 April 2023, with their adjusted pre-tax profit up to £478.1m from £339.8m in the previous year.
 
Makes a change from flogging those massive Sport Direct mugs and trackie bottoms, eh?