Boohoo’s profits almost doubled in its first half as the etailer recorded “strong revenue growth” across its markets.

The online fashion business posted an 83% surge in pre-tax profit to £45.2m during the six months to August 31.

On an adjusted basis, stripping out exceptional costs, pre-tax profit grew 45% to £51.8m, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 53% to £60.7m.

John Lyttle

John Lyttle said Boohoo had a ‘fantastic first half of the year’

Boohoo said revenues across the group advanced 43% to £564.9m in its first half, spearheaded by a 55% spike in international sales, which now account for 44% of group revenues. Sales from its domestic UK business were up 35%.

Boohoo, which acquired the Karen Millen, Coast and MissPap businesses during the half, said its eponymous brand delivered a 34% uptick in sales to £281m in the first six months of its fiscal year.

Gross margins at Boohoo.com grew 20bps to 53.6%, compared a 100bps reduction in margins to 54.3% across the wider group. The website’s active customer base swelled 20% to 8.4 million.

The Nasty Gal division more than doubled its revenues to £43.9m, while sales at PrettyLittleThing jumped 41% to £237.6m.

Boohoo maintained the full-year guidance it upgraded earlier this month. Revenue growth for the full year is expected to come in between 33% and 38%, with EBITDA margins forecast at around 10%.

Boohoo boss John Lyttle said: “It has been a fantastic first half of the year for the group. We have delivered significant market share gains across all of our key markets, and for the first time in our history, revenue has exceeded £1bn in the last 12 months.

“We have delivered strong growth and operating leverage in our more established brands and will continue to invest in both our more established and newly acquired brands.

“We enter the second half of the year well placed and confident that our platform, which combines the latest fashion, great prices and excellent customer service, all underpinned by a well-invested infrastructure, will deliver further market share gains.”