Frasers Group raises its stake in ASOS once again
Frasers Group, the owner of House of Fraser and Flannels, continues to invest in e-commerce by raising its stake in ASOS to nearly 17%.
The company has increased its stake from 10.5% to 16.8%. This comes mere months after its previous investment in the company. In June, the group raised its stake from 7.4% to 8.8%.
Mike Ashley’s retail empire, which is now run by his son-in-law Michael Murray, is the third largest shareholder in ASOS behind Danish billionaire and Bestseller owner Anders Holch Povlsen and Camelot Capital Partners.
Frasers often takes what it describes as "strategic stakes" in brands and currently holds shares in Missguided and Mulberry.
ASOS revealed sales dropped 7% to £1.84 billion in the six months to 28 February 2023, whilst pre-tax losses widened to £290.9 million (2022: £15. 9 million).
The loss was in large part down to a write-off of £128.2 million worth of stock and £49.4 million of non-cash property impairments due to closure costs relating to the reduction is the size of its HQ and logistics footprint.
This comes after Frasers Group upped its stake in Boohoo Group on 28 July for the second time over a matter of days. It now holds 7.9% of the online fashion group's stock. The latest tranche of shares were acquired following another share purchase on 26 July which took its shareholding from 5% to 6.8%.
