By James Davey
LONDON (Reuters) – Struggling British online fashion retailer Boohoo said its CEO John Lyttle would step down as the group announced a strategic review that could see it broken up.
The company, which trades as boohoo, boohooMAN, PrettyLittleThing, Debenhams and Karen Millen, said on Friday that Lyttle, CEO for five years, had informed the board of his intention to stand down but would stay on whilst a successor is found.
Boohoo said it had decided to undertake a review of options for each division “to unlock and maximise shareholder value.”
Executive chairman Mahmud Kamani added: “The time is now right to consider options with regard to corporate structure.”
The company, like UK peer ASOS, was a winner during the pandemic, which drove a boom in online shopping. It has struggled since, hurt by supply chain problems, higher product returns, competition from rivals such as Shein and Temu and subdued consumer demand.
Shares in Boohoo have fallen 22% so far in 2024 but were flat on Friday.
The group reported a 7% fall in first half to Aug. 31 sales by gross merchandise value (GMV) pre returns to 1.18 billion pounds ($1.54 billion) with the UK down 2% and the United States down 18%. Core earnings, or adjusted EBITDA, fell 32% to 21 million pounds.
It said that while the performance of the youth brands (boohoo, boohooMAN and PrettyLittleThing) had “remained impacted by the external environment”, the Debenhams business had seen considerable growth.
The group forecast an improved performance in the second half.
Boohoo, which has also agreed a new 222 million pounds debt facility, said it will publish full first-half results next month.
($1 = 0.7658 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young and David Evans)
