Luxury fashion platform Farfetch has attributed an increase in revenue in its first quarter to the continued success of its digital platform and the “strength and resilience” of its core business.

Farfetch founder and chief exec Jose Neves

José Neves said the results were ‘the first step towards achieving our Year of Execution’

Farfetch reported an 8% increase in sales year on year to $556.4m (£448.5m) for the three months to March 31, 2023.

Despite the sales growth, the luxury fashion retailer posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $34.7m (£27.9m), while it also reported a loss after tax of $174.3m (£140.5m) for the period.

Gross merchandise value increased 0.1% year on year to $931.7m (£751.1m).

Farfetch also posted a 6.5% increase in digital platform revenue to $421.5m (£339.8m) and said it was a driver of the overall sales increase.

Farfetch said its marketplace “continued to offer customers the most extensive selection of in-season luxury fashion” on a global platform, and confirmed a record stock unit total of 17 million during the period.

The retailer also said it has “continued to build on digital and artificial intelligence capabilities” in a bid to drive the engagement of its online customers, and also attributed a boost in sales to the success of its partnerships with the likes of Reebok.

Farfetch founder, chair and chief executive José Neves said: “I am delighted to report that Farfetch was back to growth in the first quarter of 2023. Our first quarter results represent the first step towards achieving our plan for 2023, our ‘Year of Execution’, and demonstrate our strong execution in the face of continued macro headwinds.

“Our sequential improvement in GMV growth in the US and China, our two largest markets, as well as in orders across the Farfetch marketplace, indicate the strength and resilience of our core business. This, on top of our recent launches of Ferragamo and Reebok, with Neiman Marcus Group on track for the second half of the year, and progress we are making on our profitability and cash flow initiatives, confirms we remain on track to deliver on our plan for 2023.

”I am extremely confident in our ability to continue expanding our reach across this resilient luxury industry and in our prospects of delivering sustained profitability and free cash flow over the coming years.”

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