Sales at fashion e-tailer Asos have soared 104 per cent in the last six months as online continues to defy the credit crunch.

This was an increase on the 80 per cent growth reported for the same period last year.

There are now 1.83 million registered users on its site and 890,000 active customers (who have bought in the last six months), up from 490,000 last year.

Chief executive Nick Robertson said: “We remain positive about the long term prospects for Asos and the future of online shopping in general. We believe our business dynamics and customer base should be resilient to the wider economic issues and that online shopping will continue to gain market share. That said, we face tougher second half comparables, and still need to trade through the all important Christmas period before we can accurately assess our performance for the full year.”

Robertson has vowed that Asos will grow its market share in the online fashion market to topple current UK leaders Next.

Landsbanki analyst Mark Photiades said: "The strong performance over the summer has shown that the business has remained resilient in the face of the consumer downturn. Its youngish (16-34) customer profile appears to be responding better than most in the current climate.”

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