Why Boohoo is still set to see sales soar

Analysts have backed the company to continue to outshine the wider market despite the outbreak, with its operations able to continue despite the Government-mandated lockdown which has hammered high street rivals.

In its full-year trading update on April 22, Boohoo is expected to post a sales jump of around 42 per cent to £1.22bn for the year to February as shoppers continued to flock to its site.

The group has announced a series of profit upgrades over the past year as online-only retailers have gone from strength to strength, despite challenges in the wider retail sector.

Most recently, in January, it said it expected to deliver revenue growth of between 40 per cent and 42 per cent for the year to February 2020, a significant increase on its previous range of between 33 per cent and 38 per cent growth.

It is now expected to reach the higher echelons of this updated range, while analysts have also predicted it will deliver adjusted earnings before tax and interest of £123.6m.

But shareholders will now turn their focus to its performance for the current period, with analysts predicting that sales could dive temporarily. Experts at Peel Hunt said they have “cut forecasts to factor in a 25 per cent drop in sales this quarter”, with growth expected to be flat in the following three-month period.

Elsewhere, Bank of America analysts described Boohoo as the “best placed online retailer” to deal with coronavirus headwinds, highlighting that it has “higher margins” than its peers and an “agile supply chain”.

Boohoo said all of its warehouses are still operating after alterations to work within health and safety remits issued by the Government.