Corona crisis brings Zalando millions of new customers

Icon: enlarge

Zalando logo in Berlin: a fifth more customers

At the very beginning of the corona crisis, Zalando also seemed to be among the losers in the pandemic. Europe's largest online fashion retailer reported weak sales and cost-cutting measures in mid-April. But in the meantime the situation has improved significantly: The group has won millions of customers also because of the restrictions to contain the pandemic. At the end of June, the number was a fifth higher than the previous year at more than 34 million, the Berlin company announced.

In the second quarter - from April to June - Zalando earned significantly more than in the previous year. The net profit rose from 45.5 million to 122.6 million euros. The adjusted operating result (EBIT) more than doubled to 211.9 million euros. Sales rose by 27.4 percent to a good two billion euros.

This means that the half-year results for the period from January to June are also positive. Because the first three months were weaker, sales over the entire half-year increased slightly less than in the second quarter alone - but by around a fifth to 3.56 billion euros. The adjusted operating result for the first six months rose slightly compared to the previous year to 113.3 million euros.

First in mid-July, the company had raised its forecast for the full year. It is now anticipating a 15 to 20 percent increase in sales for 2020 instead of 10 to 20 percent and an operating profit (EBIT) of between 250 and 300 million euros instead of the original 100 to 200 million euros.

fdi / Reuters / dpa