Interpret the article orally.

Comment on Asos’s competition strategy. Which market segment does the Group operate in? Do you think it is reasonable of Asos to rely heavily on the youngsters?

Online fashion retailer Asos posted an 11pc rise in first half year profit in its interim trading update as sales continue to smash those on the brick-and-mortar high street. Pre-tax profit at Asos rose to £25.7m in the six months to February 28, up from £21.6m in the same period last year.

Nick Robertson, chief executive, said: “Momentum is strong, and we remain positive in our outlook for the next year as we continue our journey to becoming the number one online fashion destination for twenty-somethings, globally. Our international roll out continues and our £1 billion sales ambition for the Group is firmly in our sights.

Bloomberg Businessweek

Useful terms and expressions

• interim – промежуточный

• trading update(s) – оперативные данные о результатах торгов, самая свежая информация о торгах (торговых операциях), обновления данных

• brick-and-mortar – «из кирпича и цемента», традиционные, реально существующие, физически наличествующие; предприятия и организации, обслуживающие своих клиентов в офисах (в отличие от компаний, оказывающих услуги через Интернет: clicks-and-mortar, e-commerce)

• momentum – динамика (в т.ч. рынка), темп (продвижения, наступления), импульс (роста), движущая сила, механический момент, сила (как в ‘набирать силу’)

• roll out – развёртывание, разворачивание, развитие (процесса), ввод в действие) к-л системы), внедрение

TEXT 4

Interpret the article orally.

Comment on Asos’ new strategy. What particular steps are to be taken by the company to keep it ever strong?

Asos Shares Slide on Spending Plans

British online fashion retailer steps up investment in warehousing and in IT to speed up deliveries and cut costs

Shares in British online fashion retailer Asosplunged as much as 20% on Tuesday as the firm increased its spending plans to deliver longer term growth at the expense of short-term profits.

Asos, whose fast-changing fashions are a hit with internet-savvy 20-somethings, attracting fans such as singer Rita Ora, said on Tuesday capital expenditure would increase this year from £55m to at least £68m as it steps up investment in warehousing in the UK and Germany and in IT in order to speed up deliveries and cut costs.

The investment will increase the firm's annual sales capacity to £2.5bn, Asos said, over £1bn higher than previously guided, but reduce its operating margin for the year to 31 August to 6.5%. Analysts had been expecting that to come in around 7%.

Shares in the firm were down 17% to £52.51 as analysts pencilled in a fall in full-year profit. "The lowered full-year operating margin guidance and raised capex support our longer term thesis that the cost of growth will keep coming in higher than market expectations for Asos," analysts at Liberum said, adding the guidance implied a full-year pretax profit of £65m, 7% below consensus.

Asos announced the investment increase alongside a 26% rise in second quarter retail sales for the two months to 28 February, below market forecasts of 33%, in part due to adverse currency movements in Australia and Russia.

Founded in 2000 by chief executive Nick Robertson, Asos has been a success story in British retailing. Its shares have almost doubled in the last year, giving it a market value of £5.3bn, only £2.3bn less than 130-year-old Marks & Spencer, Britain's biggest clothing retailer.

The Guardian