AIM's October recovery
AIM had a much better October this year, outperforming the Main Market even though it is still well down over a 12-month period. The FTSE AIM All-Share index rose by 1.9% during October and the FTSE AIM UK 50 index was 2.4% ahead.
That contrasts with a 2.2% decline by the FTSE 100 index.
AIM declined by 11.2% during October 2018 and lost one-fifth of its value in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Even after the recent improved performance, AIM is still 8.8% lower over the past year, while the AIM 50 has fallen by 11.6%. The FTSE AllShare index has risen by 2.3%, while the FTSE 100 is 1.7% ahead.
ASOS figures within range
ASOS revenues improved 13% to £2.7bn in the year to August 2019 and the decline in pre-tax profit from £102m to £33.1m was within the expected range. The gross margin slipped from 51.2% to 48.8%, while operating margin fell from 4.2% to 1.3%.
Warehouse transition costs increased from £25m to £45m and these were not taken as exceptional costs. There was a swing from net cash of £42.7m to net debt of £90.5m due to investment and higher stock levels. A profit of £57m is forecast for this year.
Smartspace cloud purchase
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