ASOS has announced it is close to finalising a potential equity issuance and extension to its debt facilities.

Sofie Willmott, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view on this news;

“With UK clothing & footwear spend forecast to slump 23.5% this year, even those retailers that were outperforming the market prior to March cannot afford to stand by without reacting. As a retailer that does not rely on a (temporarily shuttered) store estate ASOS may have fewer worries than its multichannel counterparts that are dealing with excess stock and managing staff. But despite this, it still has to face the major issue of decimated demand – UK online clothing & footwear spend is set to fall 10.8% in 2020.

As social occasions have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, it is difficult for ASOS to market its products to its twenty-something customer base. However, its innate understanding of its shoppers and its wide product range including athleisure and casual wear will stand it in good stead against its competitors.”