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!!

nice rise today with the action in the afternoon session. nice buy after hours over 100k @ 3.23.
closing all time high still looks strong.

Unreal how this supports itself at these pe levels. Any hint of slowing growth and I assume this will drop like a stone.

yawn yawn

Big sells today and a stream of them at that. Maybe the reurn to earth will have commenced.

clocktower- have not heard your bells for 2 days. Nothing to do with the upticks on the s/p has it?

Not at all robinhood - just waiting for the tide to turn.Well done those that are long but it will be a shame to hear from those that have huge profits that have not yet locked most of them in, if the next news from the company was less than possitive.

i think this stock is crying out to be shorted it cannot escape the trend of the retail downturn, and its customers are young and normally in debt. yes i am now short on this

ssanebs - it's not retail, it's e-tail. even in a declining overall market, e-tail is still growing faster than the wider market is falling - maybe not at 90% yoy forever, but revenue growth of say 60% this year, 40% next year, 33% the year after still makes ASOS a great growth stock run by an excellent management, with dividends to come and talk of moving to the main market (hence Cazenove's appointment?) or ready to repel boarders?

it's customers are young and mortgage free/living at home - a 100 or so in interest charges a month doesn't seem to bother them.

anyway some sizeable buys over the last few days, so someone seems to agree with me.

Their customers cant all live in Buckingham Palace!

In a review of the online retail sector, Daniel Stewart* said that ASOS (ASC), for which it has a 'buy' recommendation and 390p price target, has first mover advantage and that other retailer continually refer to it as "best in class". It said the online clothing retail market is forecast to grow from 1.3 billion pounds currently to 2.3 billion pounds by 2010. The broker also favours N Brown (BWNG), for which it has a 'buy' stance and a 310p target price, commenting that 68% of online sales are driven by catalogues which should be good news for the company. ASOS shares moved 2.75p higher to 302.75p while N Brown shares jumped 11p to 195.5p.

ssanebs A suggestion to be careful in shorting ASC: not like canutetower who will always argue that the tide is going out when it is coming inexorably in. Worth checking out www.hemscott.com which gives a strong buy from an average of no less than 10 brokers. Mind, I think our very own doggy friend is as wise as any - you should listen to him.

Eric

From The Sunday Times
June 15, 2008

E-tailer, Asos, sizes up discount clothing

FASHION trader Asos is aiming to double turnover within three years with the launch of an online discount operation in September.

The e-tailer, which will sell brand names such as Ted Baker, Ralph Lauren, Religion and Diesel at a 75% discount, aims to get a significant slice of the 2.7 billion market currently dominated by TK Maxx.

The venture, Asos Red, which will be a subsidiary of the main Asos site, has already poached two clothing buyers from TK Maxx and is in negotiations with a number of top-name brands.

Asos product and trading director Rob Bready said the decision to enter the sector was based in part on a response to the tough retail climate on the high street.

He said: Times are tough out there, but there are pockets which are still going extremely well.

The site is expected to launch with a couple of hundred products and build up to 300 brands.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article4138433.ece

Doubling turnover in 3 years is not as ambitious as it might sound.

After 90% increase last year, let's guess 75% then 50% then 33% over the next 3 years - that's 3.5 X. Doubling over 3 years is ony 26% growth per annum - nothing astonishing.

Perhaps NR meanth doubling turnover with the new division PLUS normal growth on existing operations. Or else maybe the recession is slowing growth more than we think.

stockdog,
Have you heard any concrete rumours about takeover?? I have not seen any. SD

Hi, how's the old dog?

None. I don't suppose NR will want to be taken over and I can't see many institutional holders wanting to sell out yet. So any bid approaches are very likely to be rebuffed - to such a predictable extent that I doubt any public suggestion will arise from any source just yet.

If NR was me, he'd take the money and run now and live a long life of simple luxury. But then, if NR was me, he wouldn't have had the energy to set up ASOS in the first place.

regards
Young puppy

stockdog,
Thank you the old dog is well and completed half a world cruise in march ( Sydney to Southampton) but always keeping a weather eye on ASOS who funded it. SD

Hope the trip was terrific - wish I'd done more sailing. Had to cancel my more modest annual visit to Norfolk Broads due to bad back - old 30's wooden sailing boats no engine - great antidote to city life, but on a smaller scale than your epic voyage.

If ASC continues up into the 500's and beyond maybe I can retire earlier than currently planned and follow your example!

Takeover at these pe levels LOL

There was more bad news from the retail sector last week as furniture retailers ScS Upoholstery and Land of Leather both announced that they would need extra funding to deal with increasingly challenging working capital requirements.

Troubled ScS announced that a large insurer had withdrawn coverage allowing for early payments to suppliers after deeming the business too risky, causing its shares to fall 27 per cent to 8p, meaning that ScS shares have shed more than 96 per cent of their value in 12 months. Land of Leather's shares have also seen their value slashed by 95 per cent over the last 12 months as consumer confidence has evaporated. But Land of Leather is to announce its plans for a fund-raising exercise by the end of this week, which suggests that an arrangement is already in motion unlike ScS, which is rumoured to have appointed advisors on a potential fund-raising, and administrators, should it not materialise.

But it is not all doom and gloom for retailers, consumers have not curbed their spending online as recent trading updates from pure play online retailers Asos and EBTM both detailed positive news.

Results from EBTM last week saw the online music-inspired fashion retailer beat expectations and report maiden profits of 0.85m on the back of 401 per cent revenue growth. Its online sales grew 37 per cent, and broker Blue Oar expects further growth of 50 per cent in 2009 proving that while consumers are not spending on big ticket items, they are still spending to look good.

In fact, Verdict Research expects online retail sales to hit 44.9bn in 2012 with clothing and footwear forecast to be the fastest growing categories in the sector.

So Asos's plans to double sales in the next three years - sales for the year ended 31 March 2008 were 81m - are not as fanciful as they appear on first view. Part of this plan is the launch of a new online discount designer store called Asos Red. The store will sell branded items by the likes of Diesel, Ralph Lauren and Ted Baker at 75 per cent discounts in a bid to tap into the 2.7bn discount designer market. Asos has poached two buyers from market leaders TK Maxx for Asos Red, which is due to launch in September.


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IC VIEW:
GoodValue

Good to hear from the senior dog - mind, I think he has the wrong sector when he talks about 'concrete rumours'! Eric