By Helen Reid LONDON (Reuters) -European online fashion retailer Zalando reported first-quarter revenue that was stronger than expected thanks to additional customers and a good start to spring and summer sales, and confirmed its 2025 guidance. The multi-brand platform that sells clothes, shoes and accessories said group revenue grew 7.9% to 2.42 billion euros ($2.74 […]
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Zalando beats first-quarter revenue forecast, confirms 2025 goal
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By Helen Reid
LONDON (Reuters) -European online fashion retailer Zalando reported first-quarter revenue that was stronger than expected thanks to additional customers and a good start to spring and summer sales, and confirmed its 2025 guidance.
The multi-brand platform that sells clothes, shoes and accessories said group revenue grew 7.9% to 2.42 billion euros ($2.74 billion) in the three months ended March 31, beating analysts’ average forecast of 2.367 billion.
Zalando has been moving upmarket and adding more designer brands to its offering as cut-price fast-fashion platforms like Shein intensify competition at the lower end, and said it added LVMH-owned brand Marc Jacobs in the first quarter.
Gross merchandise volume, a measure of the total goods sold on Zalando, was up 6.5% in the first quarter to 3.5 billion euros.
Zalando stuck to its forecast for 2025 “despite a fast-changing geopolitical and macroeconomic environment,” though global trade tariffs have driven many retailers to cut expectations.
It expects a rise of 4% to 9% in revenue and gross merchandise volume in 2025, and adjusted EBIT of 530 million to 590 million euros.
Shares in Zalando were expected to rise 4.9% after the results, according to pre-market indications.
The number of active customers rose to a new high of 52.4 million, up from 49.5 million in the first quarter last year. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax was 46.7 million euros in the first quarter, up from 28.3 million a year ago.
Revenue from Zalando’s business selling logistics and software services to other retailers grew 11.6% to 240 million euros.
TikTok Shop, the shopping arm of social media app TikTok, chose Zalando’s ZEOS as its “preferred logistics partner” for sellers in Germany, France, and Italy in the first quarter, the company said.
($1=0.8831 euros)
(Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Bernadette Baum)