Zalando’s second quarter profits have jumped thanks to strong growth across its sports, designer and beauty categories.
The German fashion giant said it leveraged the ‘Summer of Sports’ momentum, launching dedicated campaigns in major European cities and its first adaptive sports collection, which helped to deliver its best monthly sports performance in June.
Sales rose 3.4% to £2.2bn (€2.6bn) and gross merchandise volume increased 2.8% to £3.2bn (€3.8bn), as adjusted EBIT surged 18% to £147.1m (€171.6m).
It attributed the improvement in profitability to successful inventory management and lower fulfilment costs, helping to increase its EBIT margin 0.8 percentage points to 6.5%.
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The green shoots come after Zalando updated its strategy in March as it set out plans to build the leading pan-European fashion and lifestyle ecommerce ecosystem around its two growth areas: business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B).
The retailer maintained its full-year guidance for the year and expects adjusted EBIT to be between £326.2m and £386.3m (€380m and €450m), and both GMV and revenue to grow 0% and 5% respectively this year.
It also revealed its chief financial officer Dr. Sandra Dembeck has decided not to renew her contract beyond her current term which ends on 28 February 2025 as she is “embracing a new career opportunity”.
Zalando co-chief executive Robert Gentz said: “Our ecosystem strategy empowers us to cover a larger share of the fashion and lifestyle e-commerce market, and the positive response from customers and partners in the second quarter validates our vision.
“Our B2C customers are excited by the quality brands we are adding, spending time with our new digital tools and content, and embracing our expanding lifestyle offerings in areas such as Sports, Designer and Beauty.
“We also recorded double-digit growth in B2B, demonstrating that both our growth vectors are delivering.”
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