Zalando posts 23.7 percent revenue growth, outlook positive

Zalando has said that it had a good start into the year and remained on its profitable high-growth path. Coupled with strong growth in the active customer base to 18.4 million, the company reported revenue increase of 23.7 percent to 796 million euros (908 million dollars), at the upper end of the growth corridor. Zalando posted an adjusted EBIT of 20 million euros (22.8 million dollars), corresponding to a margin of 2.5 percent.

“We are pushing ahead on multiple fronts, delivering on our long-term platform strategy and growth plan,” said Rubin Ritter, member of the Management Board, adding, “At the same time, our core business is developing strongly and we continue to win market share.”

Initiatives for further growth

With focus on customer proposition, including the build-out of Zalando’s fulfillment footprint, , Zalando said that its first international satellite warehouse in Stradella, Italy, has cut lead times for Italian orders by as much as 1.5 days. The construction of the new Lahr warehouse is also on track, with manual operations to commence in autumn, it added.

As part of its platform strategy, Zalando further expanded its partner program, which enables selected brands to directly sell on the Zalando platform. By the end of the first quarter, Zalando had enrolled more than 150 partners, including brands like Adidas and Superdry. To strengthen its ability to digitalize this partner stock and connect it to retail channels, Zalando has acquired Tradebyte Software GmbH in May 2016.

The company has reiterated its full-year guidance of revenue growth at the upper end of the 20-25 percent growth corridor and an adjusted EBIT margin of 3-4.5 percent.

picture:zalando.co.uk