By Douglas Busvine and Nadine Schimroszik
BERLIN (Reuters) – German fashion e-tailer About You, which is widely reported to be preparing for a Frankfurt listing, said on Wednesday it cracked 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in revenue last year after launching in more than a dozen European markets.
Revenue grew 57% to 1.17 billion euros in the year to February, while in the last quarter the company turned its first profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization since its launch in 2014.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic drove more shoppers online, About You co-founder Tarek Mueller said a drop in socialising had led consumers, particularly among the younger generation, to spend less on clothes.
Despite that, “we managed to grow massively,” he said. “We seized our opportunity in the crisis.”
The Hamburg-based group more than doubled revenue in Europe outside Germany, Austria and Switzerland to 464 million euros after launching in 13 countries from Estonia to Ireland.
It is also developing an enterprise product that enables retailers and brands to set up and run their own online shops, competing with e-commerce solutions from established players SAP and Salesforce.
Sales in this business-to-business segment grew by 61% last year.
Mueller declined to comment on reports that the company plans to float on the Frankfurt stock exchange, which has had a busy spring featuring debuts by telco Vantage Towers and used car dealing platform AUTO1.
About You’s main owners are mail-order group Otto and Danish tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen’s investment company Heartland, which has previously backed consumer plays including Zalando, Asos and Klarna.
(Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Jan Harvey)
