Zalando Expects to Grow Revenues 20-25% in Fourth Quarter

• Q3 2018: Revenue growth of 11.7%, GMV growth of 16.6%
• Number of orders increased by 22.8% to 27.7 million
• Active customers at 25.1 million, representing 6% of European population
• Zalando confirms full year guidance

BERLIN, NOVEMBER 6, 2018 // Zalando expects to grow revenues in the fourth quarter of 2018 by 20-25% after a financially challenging third quarter with 11.7% revenue growth to EUR 1.20 billion and an adjusted EBIT of EUR -38.9 million, corresponding to a margin of -3.2%.

Zalando continued to progress well with the execution of its platform strategy, making further headway with both brands and customers: The Partner Program continued to grow above expectations, with improved tools cutting the time to onboard new articles in half and resulting in Partner Program growth exceeding 60% in the third quarter, as new partners joined and existing partners internationalized to additional markets. 

In terms of customers, key performance indicators continue to develop positively: With 25.1 million, Zalando reached a new record number of active customers, representing about 6% of the European population. An all-time high order frequency resulted in orders growing by 22.8% to 27.7 million.

Zalando Co-CEO Rubin Ritter said: “We are clearly not happy with our financial results in the third quarter. Our eyes are set on building the ecosystem for European fashion at full speed and our 2020 target of doubling the business to EUR 10 billion in gross merchandise volume. For the fourth quarter, the team’s full focus is now on pulling off a strong finish to the year.”

In the third quarter, Zalando increased revenues by 11.7% to EUR 1.20 billion, while gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew by 16.6%. The strong development of the Partner Program is reflected in the revenues only with a commission, but fully reflected in GMV. The lower than expected growth is mainly due to the extended and unusually hot summer period with reduced consumer demand and a delayed switch to the fall/winter season. 

In the third quarter, Zalando recorded an adjusted EBIT of EUR -38.9 million, or a margin of -3.2%. The margin decrease was driven by slower revenue growth and missing profit contribution, a decrease in gross margin and higher fulfillment costs. Gross margin decreased mainly as a result of the slow season start as well as higher cost due to inefficient reconditioning of returns, caused by operational faults that have been addressed and resolved in the meantime. Fulfillment costs increased as a result of high investments in logistic infrastructure, further decreasing basket economics and increased transport costs.

For the full year, Zalando continues to expect revenue growth around the low end of its 20-25% target growth corridor and an adjusted EBIT of EUR 150-190 million. Capital expenditure will stay on elevated levels due to continued strong logistics and technology investments. Zalando anticipates to spend around EUR 300 million in 2018, which is slightly less than initially expected (around EUR 350 million) as Zalando is further optimizing its logistics footprint and projects will be spread over a longer period of time.

The earnings presentation for analysts and investors is available on the Zalando Investor Relations website. Zalando will report results for the full year and fourth quarter 2018 on February 28, 2019.

Zalando Group – Key Figures (in EUR Million)

As of January 1, 2018, Zalando changed its internal management structure. The focus is now primarily on sales channels rather than on geographical regions. Thus, the segment reporting has been adjusted accordingly. This change increases the level of responsibility and decision making within the individual sales channels. Under the new structure, our main sales channel continues to be Fashion Store (online shops of Zalando). The Offprice segment includes Zalando Lounge, the outlet stores and overstock management. The Other segment includes the private label offering zLabels and various emerging businesses. However, to ensure continuity of capital market reporting, Zalando will continue to report a breakdown of results within the Fashion Store into DACH and Rest of Europe.

While reporting was previously on a consolidated basis, from January 1, 2018 onwards, revenue and profitability generated with external business partners as well as the internal transactions between segments of Zalando are reported. Due to this change, the segment reporting has been supplemented by a reconciliation column to reconcile segment figures (including internal and external transactions) to the consolidated group figures (showing only external transactions).

¹ New segment structure from January 1, 2018, onwards. Financial years 2014-2016 not restated.
² Fashion Store DACH is comprised of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
³ Fashion Store Rest of Europe includes all other countries in which Zalando presently operates its online shops.
⁴ Other segment includes the private label offering zLabels and various emerging businesses.
⁵ Before expenses for equity-settled share-based payments and effects from business transactions that do not recur regularly.

Zalando Group – Key Performance Indicators

⁶ Number of series of page views from the same device and the same source (via websites, mobile sites, tablet sites or apps). The series is considered ended when a page view is not recorded for longer than 30 minutes.
⁷ Tablets, mobile sites and apps.
⁸ Number of customers placing at least one order in the last twelve months irrespective of cancellations or returns.
⁹ Number of customer orders placed in the measurement period irrespective of cancellations or returns. An order is counted on the day the customer places the order.
¹⁰ Transactional revenue (incl. VAT and transactional volume of Partner Program) after cancellations or returns divided by the number of orders.