The British clothing retailer Asos Plc announced two important personnel decisions on Thursday: the company presented its new CEO and future chairman. At the same time, management had to lower its forecasts for the current 2021/22 financial year in view of the difficult market situation.
Effective immediately, José Antonio Ramos Calamonte will head the group. The previous Chief Commercial Officer (COO) has been promoted to CEO, succeeding Nick Beighton, who left the company last October. In the meantime, CFO and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Matt Dunn had managed the business on an interim basis.
Jørgen Lindemann becomes the new chairman
Calamonte has been with Asos since early 2021. He was previously CEO of the Portuguese clothing retailer Salsa Jeans, having held various management positions at well-known textile and trading companies such as Inditex, Esprit and Carrefour during his career.
“He is a seasoned international retail executive with extensive multi-channel experience and a track record of driving innovation,” the group said in a statement. During his time at Asos, he already had “significant influence”, leading product and commercial strategy and in his previous role leading a team of more than 1,000 employees, the company said.
A second key position in the group will also be filled: On August 1, Jørgen Lindemann is to become the new chairman. He succeeds Ian Dyson, who had already announced that he would step down following the appointment of a new CEO. Lindemann has been a non-executive director on the board of directors since November 1 of last year.
Increasing “inflationary pressure”: Higher returns are a burden on business
Despite the new personnel regulations, the group had to significantly lower its expectations for the current financial year. The increasing “inflationary pressure” on consumers has recently led to significantly higher returns and made additional price reductions necessary, the company explained and warned of the resulting pressure on margins.
In view of these factors and the current market uncertainties, the management lowered its forecasts: For 2021/22 it now only expects sales growth of four to seven percent, after an increase of ten to 15 percent had previously been expected. The target for adjusted profit before tax has been reduced from £110m-£140m to £20m-£60m.
According to the interim report published on Thursday, the group’s turnover for the third quarter ended May 31 was 983.4 million pounds sterling (1.15 billion euros). It was thus slightly below the level of the same quarter of the previous year (-0.5 percent). Adjusted for exchange rate changes and the effects of the withdrawal from the Russian business announced on March 2, revenues grew by four percent.