Zalando on track for 3 billion euro growth

Zalando says it is on track to reach close to 3 billion euros (2.1 billion pounds) in 2015, with revenue growth of 33 to 35 percent. The German e-commerce based predictions are on strong growth in the first nine months, which almost reached full year 2014 levels.

Revenues for the nine month period ending 30th September surged 42.2 percent to 713.1 million euros (504.8 million pounds), while adjusted EBIT rose to 35.7 million euros, compared with 16.2 million in the same period last year, or 1.7 percent margin.

Third quarter adjusted EBIT, however, tumbled to -23.5 million euros, down from 3.8 million euros in the same quarter last year. Zalando blamed higher fulfilment and marketing costs, including strategic marketing investments into app downloads. Meanwhile, third quarter sales rose to 713.1 million euros, compared with 501.4 million in the third quarter of 2014.

”Our accelerated growth is driven by very strong customer metrics, so we are clearly making the right investments,” co-CEO Rubin Ritter said in a statement. The number of active customers increased by 3.1 million to 17.2 million in the third quarter, with 394 million visits to the site.

Group revenue in the third quarter grew by 34.4 percent in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with adjusted EBIT in the region at 44 million euro or at a margin of 3.9 percent in the first nine months. The rest of Europe recorded a growth of 52.1 percent, with adjusted EBIT in the first nine months of -15.1 million or a marine of -1.8 percent. Revenue in the ‘Other segment’ jumped 50.3 percent, while posting an adjusted EBIT of 6.8 million or a marine of 6.3 percent.