Koovs has revealed soaring full-year sales and steady losses as it aims for profitability in 2020.

Pre-tax losses rose from £16.7m (1.65bn Indian rupee) to £19.3m (INR 1.69bn) in the year to March 31, 2017.

Koovs reiterated its ambition to be profitable in 2020 and is currently wrangling with cost efficiencies to achieve that.

Sales during the year rose 58% to £12.5m (INR 1.086bn), up from £7m (INR 867m).

This was aided by website traffic rising 79% and a 100% increase in both repeat customers and units shipped.

Chief executive Mary Turner said: “We are pleased to have delivered strong sales growth, significantly outperforming India’s e-commerce market by over five times during the challenging period of demonetisation, which affected the whole economy in India.

“The focus for 2018 is to build on these foundations for sustainable growth towards profitability in 2020 and to further capitalise on the unique growth prospects of India’s fashion ecommerce market.”

According to Koovs, the Indian market for online Western fashion will grow to $3.5bn by 2020, fuelled by a digitally-connected, aspirational middle class.

Koovs is capitalising on this by introducing its own label, which now generates 40% of sales, and by expanding it in other countries.

It signed its first international distribution agreement this summer, agreeing that Middle Eastern ecommerce platform Souq.com could sell its own-brand product.