Asos, the online fashion retailer, has reported large losses after shoppers cut back on spending and the cost of living squeezes household budgets. The firm, which owns Topshop, posted a loss of £87.4m in the six months to the end of February, compared to a profit of £14.8m in the same period last year. It said trading had been "very challenging" with sales down 10% in the UK and 7% in the US. But Asos said it was confident it would return a profit in the next six months. Asos and some of its rivals have been seen as the poster children for the shift to online shopping. The company benefited during the pandemic as locked-down shoppers, mostly younger adults, splashed the cash online. But with the reopening of High Street shops followed closely by the rising cost of living, spending power of customers has been hit, with households having to deal with higher energy and food bills. Outside of the UK and US, the retailer's sales in Europe remained flat and its sales around the rest of the world dropped by 12% in the six months to the end of February. Adam Vettese, an analyst at social investing network eToro, said Asos was unfortunate that the cost of living was hitting his target demographic of "fashion conscious twentysomethings".
