Yoox Net-a-Porter sales jump on North America, Asia Pacific demand

Yoox Net-a-Porter, the online luxury fashion retailer, posted a bigger than expected rise in first quarter revenues driven by strong sales in North America and Asia Pacific.

The company that sells Prada handbags and Jimmy Choo shoes, said net revenues rose 15.4 per cent from a year ago to €515m in the three months ended in March, with growth led by North America and Asia Pacific. That topped analysts’ estimates of €508m.

Organic revenues, which are calculated at a constant exchange rate and include all online stores that were active at the end of both reporting periods, were up 19.1 per cent.

Luxury retailers have seen a rebound in the Asia Pacific region, where luxury names had previously suffered amid Beijing’s crackdown on corruption and concerns about economic growth.

YNAP’s off-season sites like The Outnet and Yoox.com, which sell products at a sharp discount, posted sales growth of 16.2 per cent to €192.1m at constant exchange rates.

The company also said visits climbed 12.4 per cent from a year ago to 200m visits, while orders rose to 2.2m, compared with 2m in the first quarter of 2016. Moreover, the average order value, excluding value added tax, also increased to €343, compared with €324 in the year ago quarter.

The results comes as YNAP is trying a handful of changes in an effort to offer its luxury customers more choices. Last month the company announced that it had entered into a partnership with Valentino, integrating their inventory and distribution systems so consumers can buy products from the brand’s brick and mortar stores and website as well as YNAP’s global network — giving them access to more products, quicker.

In London, Net-a-Porter will be launching a same-day delivery service for its top clients come September which will let customers try out their online orders at home or their office while the delivery vans wait outside.

Milan-listed YNAP shares are down 10 per cent so far this year and were up 1 per cent on Thursday.