Shares in an online fashion retailer forced to shut down in the wake of the Buncefield oil depot fire were back trading today.
ASOS shares have been suspended since 12th December but returned after the company was able to carry out a full assessment of the damage caused by the explosion next to its warehouse at Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.
It said it expected the business, which has earned the tag as the UK’s fastest-growing retailer, to be fully operational again in mid January.
It said it remained on track to meet profits expectations as the interruption to business was covered by insurance.
There was £5.5m of stock in the warehouse at the time of the blast, while 19,000 orders had to be refunded to customers.
Chief executive Nick Robertson said the company would now be working hard to win back the business and restore the profile of the brand after being forced to stop taking orders.
He added: “Structurally, the damage was not as bad as originally thought.
“Everyone has rallied round and been fantastic so the show should be back on the road in about three weeks’ time.”
Mr Robertson had to wait several days before being able to visit the warehouse, which suffered damage to doors and ceiling panels while a burst pipe from a sprinkler system affected some of the stock.
He said: “Despite the disruption to the business, the board is confident that no long term damage has been done to the brand.”
ASOS shares fell 8% to 71.5p on their resumption, although Richard Ratner, retail analyst at Seymour Pierce stockbrokers, believed this presented a buying opportunity to investors
In terms of the explosion, he added: “Given the extent of damage in the area, ASOS has escaped relatively lightly.
“Although this happening at the key time of the year has meant that we shall never know just how good Christmas could have been we suspect very good – getting back into full operation after one month, without any damage to profitability, is as good as anyone could have hoped for.”
References: EGi News 23/12/05
