Shares in online retailer Kogan ended up 1% yesterday (in a wider market that struggled to close up 0.9% at the end of the day) after it told the ASX had seen a strong start to the financial year.
The retailer said it had seen a significant increase in both gross profit and sales for the September quarter of 2019-20 financial year – a trend that was better than some of the early reporting retailers for the quarter.
In a trading update, the company announced its gross sales were up over 16% on the first quarter of 2018-19, and its gross profit grew more than 28%.
The shares jumped 5% in early trading to $7.29 before the gains faded in the afternoon session for the close of $7.04.
Kogan said its recently launched Marketplace division also continued to significantly grow, posting gross sales of around $24 million, up from $12 million in the final quarter of 2018-19.
Kogan said its sales of private-label and ‘exclusive’ brands were up 35% (sales of branded products such as iPhones faded a touch). Operating costs grew 3%, compared to 2% in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Founder and chief executive Ruslan Kogan said the company was looking towards the Christmas quarter with confidence.
“The product range available on our site is the biggest it’s ever been, our service is the best it’s ever been and we have the widest logistics network out of any eCommerce company in Australia — all this means our customers will get their Christmas orders faster and cheaper than ever before,” he said.
