BERLIN (Reuters) -German online fashion retailer Zalando said on Thursday it expects 2021 operating profit to come in at the upper end of its forecast range as sales rose 34% in the second quarter despite the easing of coronavirus lockdowns.
Europe’s biggest fashion ecommerce player said customers it had attracted during the first lockdowns in 2020 continued to be active buyers even as stores reopened during the quarter, with 44.5 million active customers at the end of June.
Zalando has also connected 4,700 brick-and-mortar stores to its platform, an initiative it accelerated during the pandemic.
Second-quarter sales came in at 2.73 billion euros ($3.24 billion) and adjusted operating profit at 184.1 million euros, both in line with average analyst forecasts.
Zalando said it had been investing more into marketing in this period after it scaled down advertising a year ago as demand soared during the first wave of the pandemic.
Zalando reiterated it expects full-year sales to grow 26-31% to 10.1-10.5 billion euros and said it now forecasts adjusted earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) to reach the upper half of its guided 400-475 million euros range.
($1 = 0.8448 euros)
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson, editing by Kirsti Knolle)
