ASOS have dropped quite significantly in the past week for no particular reason and I view this as the perfect opportunity to invest as I can see them bouncing right back up to the 5.50p mark in the next 2-3 weeks. STRONG BUY!!

You're right Woodie - it was worth saying twice - lol!

sd

sorry for oversight

Thanks for the very helpful posts, sd and Woodie. Volume not large today but quite a bit if smnall investor buying; clearly none of the larger holdes have been shaken out. Reall confirms your view, sd, that this is now a stable share beloved of the fund managers who like the share with a cap of around 100m which they can see growing consistently over a period of years. In a way, it would be a shame if it was bought out: even a price of 2 now would look porr compared with a cap. of 500m in 4 or 5 years time. There share of the total fashion market is still relatively small; we know that there is a rapid trasfer of purchasing to the Internet; there are other routes to the market, e.g. Amazon; the cost of entry to other markets, eg. U.S., is relatively low; cash is available for any selected expansion.

It is interesting re the deferred insurance: this may be that the actual amount needs the audited figures for the year. With that figure included we would have had 100% improvement in pbt.

I expect the price to remain firm up to the results in first week of July. We should hear then about dividend policy and I would also expect an indication of how the cash mountain is to be utilised. There is unlikely to be anything disappointing so that the rise could gather pace as confidence grows. I did switch part of my holding into DEBT so, ideally, there might be a good profit-taking point in June for them and then switch back for further good news.

Eric

ASOS PLC
04 July 2006


FOR RELEASE
7.00 am
Tuesday 4 July 2006


ASOS plc
'ASOS' or 'Group'
('A leading Internet based fashion retailer')


RECORD RESULTS

RESULTS

Group sales +39% to 18.80m
Group profit before tax and amortisation of goodwill + 49% to 1.65m
Group profit before tax + 61% to 1.42m
Remaining insurance proceeds of 0.60m expected in the six months to 30
September 2006
Cash at bank +82% to 3.74m
Fully diluted EPS before tax and goodwill amortisation +47% to 2.2p
ASOS.com registered users +60% to 960,000 (as at 2 July 2006)
Sales for the 13 weeks to 2 July 2006 are 65% ahead of last year



HIGHLIGHTS

Continued strong growth
Investment in the future - people, systems and logistics
Resilience of business - recovery from Buncefield
Confident of another strong year

I put the fall in SP down to mark down's by MMs to encourage loose holders to sell on results, although my own brief analysis tells me to keep holding. The bulk of transactions have been buys/unknowns - quite low volume marked as sells.

A PE of 51 with growth of only 46% in EPS gives a seemingly lack lustre PEG of 1.1, a margin of 7.2% and ROCE of 27%. Taking the chairman's somewhat speculative comments and extrapolating to the 25m turnover and 2.2m pre-tax profit that might have been, gives respective figures, I estimate, of 31, 140%, 0.22, 8.4% and 42% - a totally respectable set of stats for this growth share, heading towards a first dividend for year ending March 2007(??)

Next year will be somewhat decelerated by the affect of paying coroporation tax for the first time on the bulk of profits. But if the results reflect the projected 36% increase in on-line shopping from the 25m mark to a turnover of 34m and an estimated net profit after tax of 2.82m with EPS of 3.92p, growth of 25% and a PE of 25, margin of 12.2% and ROCE of 53%. Great figures, although showing signs of ex-growth with a PEG of 1.0. However, first quarter of this year is showing 65% growth over last year - albeit from an artifically low base pre-new warehouse. So there is every hope that results will be better than the overall market increase in trading, continuing to keep this share in my long-term hold portfolio.

Just leaves me to ponder what catastrophe can befall this on-line retailer next spring - since we know they travel in threes!

All contrary views welcome.

sd

Not a contrary view - I think ASC has worked wonders again, and really shown the doubters in the markets after the fire what a fine company this really is.

just shows what a difference a year makes,this time last year there was at least 1 post a day .

Having further studied the accounts, I have one concern going forward - control of costs.

Looking at the FD's report I see that head office, warehousing (mid-estimate) and other operating costs will total 14.9m against last year's 9.6m.

To generate sufficient net profit after tax for PEG = 0.67 (a rough guide to a true growth share) on an SP of 97.75p as it was before prelims were announced, I calculate (with a gross margin of 47.5% less costs and amortisation, plus 100k interest and allowing for 1.24m tax losses b/f) sales will need to be in the order of 36.7m, about 47% ahead of the Chairman's pro forma figure of 25m and almost double actual sales for 2005/6, from a market estimated to be growing at 36% p.a. So ASC will need to increase their market share by about 8%. Can they do it?

Was this the reason for the 7.5% fall in SP, or was that just MMs trapping those selling because the SP did not shoot up on results. Glad to see some serious buyers now in at the 90p level.

Any views?

sd

stockdog i think the mark down was an article in the the independent saying avoid
Asos

Our view: Avoid

Share price: 94.5p (-3.5p)

If Asos, the online retailer that sells copycat celebrity fashions, was one of the dresses that it sells, it would be verging on a size zero. Yet when it comes to its profile, we're talking serious plus sizing.

Asos.com punches above its weight in the fashion cybersphere, second only to Next in terms of the number of hits it receives.

Final results yesterday showed investors escaped being burned by the Buncefield fire - which wiped out Asos's headquarters - although the company is still waiting on a slug of its insurance claim. The good news is that customers were not put off by the disruption to Asos's trading, which all but wiped out Christmas. Despite the loss of sales, turnover still rose 39 per cent and profit before tax by 61 per cent.

So far, so good. But it will be as Asos attempts to bulk up that the problems come. The costs of being bigger, from more expensive head office and warehousing bills, will hold profits back until sales can fully compensate. This column has been overly negative on Asos in the past. Yet with its shares trading at a size 20 premium to the retail sector, now is no time to turn positive. Avoid.

Thanks Woodie. Although it echoes my own thoughts about costs, its cynical tone betrays it as the piece of journalism it is - printed to sell newspapers, not necessarily to inform investors.

It's PE is high and it needs to continue high growth to justify this. 65% ahead on turnover at Q1 suggests they can do this.

A premium to the retail sector is justified by the new paradigm of internet shopping. If high street sales were growing at 36% p.a., no doubt the retail sector's PE would reflect that to some extent.

In a way, I am comforted by the drop, sorting out a number of tired holders and more importantly enabling new share holders to get in at 90p. They will not be planning to sell out at the 97.75p it was on Monday and no doubt hope to see it go considerably higher over the next 12 months.

sd

sd no probs i think they have got it wrong so many times it has become a vandetta,
the best call they made was to sell at around the 25p mark just over a month later it hit 50p.one day they will make the right call but not yet dyor

ASOS PLC
06 July 2006


ASOS plc

('ASOS' or the 'Company')

Director's Shareholding


ASOS was advised yesterday that Peter Williams, a Director of the Company,
yesterday acquired 10,000 ordinary shares of 3.5 pence each in the Company
('Ordinary Shares') at 91.5p per Ordinary Share and this means that Mr Williams
is now interested in 10,000 Ordinary Shares.

always good to see

Like the idea of ASOS publishing a glossy magazines with links to online ordering- still do not understand why this company has slipped a bit of late as ALL the news I hear is positive

Asos goes into glossy print in attempt to lift online sales
By Caroline Muspratt

(Filed: 29/08/2006)

Online fashion retailer Asos is launching its own glossy magazine next month, which it hopes will boost sales of clothing from its website.

The company, formerly known As Seen On Screen, sells clothes, shoes and accessories, many of which are described as "in the style of" different celebrities.

It is launching the magazine on September 15, and the first issue will be sent to customers free of charge along with their orders.

However, a source confirmed the company was considering selling the magazine as a stand-alone publication. It could target readers of magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Heat.

"That is something that we're looking into," she said.

The 68-page glossy magazine will "be filled with fashion tips, celebrity gossip, news on trends," she said. Mischa Barton, the US actress who appeared in teen drama series The OC, will appear on the front cover of the first issue and has given an interview to the magazine.

The first issue will offer readers 10pc off orders from Asos.com, "to drive people online", the source said. Asos said in July that the number of registered users on its website had risen 60pc to 960,000 over the past year.

The magazine, which has a working title of Asos.com, will have an initial print run of 100,000. Anna-Marie Crowhurst, a contributor to Time Out, has been appointed editor and the magazine will be published by Square One Publishing.

A spokesman for Asos declined to comment on the details of the publication but confirmed the magazine would be launched early next month.

At last charts looking good again- has broken 50 and 200 day MA- fingers crossed

no doubt bouyed up by the latest reports from Next which seem well ahead of market expectations.

intersting to note that the recent trough bounced off the long-term up trend from early 2004.

no reason why this should not continue for a nother year or so, notwithstanding the inevitable intervening shorter-term cycles.

not sure about the magazine - could be a distraction from the real event. how long to break even?

sd

charts looking even better still.....up 5.25 p/s today

why the rise today?

why the rise today?