ASOS investors have baulked at the news the online retail company will continue to sacrifice revenue in an attempt to bolster EBITDA through 2024.

The retailer said adjusted revenue fell 11% in the 2023 full year as the company focused on efficiencies and carving out higher EBITDA by cutting costs and improving stock management.

Adjusted EBITDA fell 59% to £124.5m in the year to 3rd September 2023.

“The past year has been another annus horribilis, but then again it was always going to be. You cannot perform major surgery on a broken business without taking considerable pain. ASOS still remains in intensive care, meaning the year ahead is also likely to be very painful,” said Charlie Huggins, manager of the Quality Shares Portfolio at Wealth Club.

ASOS shares were 9% lower at the time of writing on Wednesday.

“Profitability rather than growth remains the order of the day at ASOS. There were no major surprises in full-year results, revenue had fallen at double-digit rates as the number of active customers shrank 9% to 23.3m. With shoppers clearly struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and looking elsewhere for their latest fix of fashion, ASOS expects these double-digit revenue declines to continue into the new financial year, before turning positive again in the final quarter,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Chiekrie continued to explain the financial situation ASOS was far from ideal as debt rose cash outflows increased.

“With net debt and cash outflows rising, an £80m equity raise was needed last year to help shore up the balance sheet. This isn’t usually a good sign for existing shareholders as it waters down their stake in the company. On the flip side, the cash injection has given ASOS some wiggle room to execute its ongoing transformation, and there are some very early signs that it’s bearing fruit,” said Chiekrie.

“Despite overall profit coming in lower last year, profit per order was up over 30% as the group streamlined its offering and narrowed its focus on higher-quality, more profitable customers. And good progress has been made in trimming the mountain of excess inventory in ASOS’ warehouses, down around 30% year-on-year. The discounts used to help clear this stock have hurt margins though, and the group turned loss-making.”

On Wednesday, Next shareholders cheered a brief, yet upbeat, trading statement from the retail bellwether after a solid quarter of sales growth driven by online activity.

Next shares rose 2% in early trade after reporting a 4% increase in full price sales for the third quarter compared to last year, beating guidance of 2% growth.

Strong performance in the most recent quarter gave the fashion retailer the confidence to increase its profit forecast by £10 million to £885 million for the full year.

Full price sales were up across both online and retail divisions in Q3 and year-to-date. However, performance varied week-to-week due to changing weather impacting shopping patterns and Next believes sales volatility reflects weather conditions rather than underlying consumer demand.

This is certainly an optimistic assertion, given the softer UK economic conditions creeping in in recent months. That said, Next has consistently surprised to the upside this year and seems immune to wider economic concerns.

The company raised its full year guidance for full price sales growth to 3.1% and pre-tax profit to £885 million, up from previous guidance of 2.6% sales growth and £875 million profit. Next also increased its earnings per share outlook based on higher projected profit.

The FTSE 100 was clinging on to gains at the time of writing on Tuesday as a turbulent month of October drew to a close.

London’s leading index had started the session firmly in positive territory before US futures fell, taking European stocks with them.

Investors were digesting a raft of economic data on Tuesday, including weaker US manufacturing data and slower retail sales in Germany.

The ongoing human tragedy in the Middle East also continued to weigh on sentiment.

“We’re at the end of a difficult month for equity markets, shaken by conflict in the Middle East and a mixed set of corporate results. The FTSE 100 and Dax indices are on track to end the month down 4%. In the US, the S&P is looking at a 3% decline on the month. Investors will be hoping for an end-of-year rally to help repair portfolios,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Earnings season in the US and UK has been mixed to date, with many companies missing already conservative analyst estimates.

Mould highlighted a number of big losers in October, adding; “NatWest has had a shocker of a time with its share price down more than 23% in October. Rat-catcher Rentokil has shown that its business is not as defensive as one might have thought, with its shares down 30% on the month.”

BP was the latest casualty on Tuesday as shares slipped 4% after missing analyst earnings estimates. The oil major was suffering from lower gas trading activities, and falling oil prices piled further pressure on their refining business.

“The third quarter has been something of a mixed bag for oil & gas supermajor BP. But overall the strong cash flows is still enabling it to invest in new projects, make inroads into the debt position and make generous payouts to shareholders,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Whilst the oil pricing outlook remains strong there are some headwinds blowing into the fourth quarter. The high oil price is favourable to the upstream operations but the profits it makes in its petrol station forecourts remain sensitive to the cost of supply. And in refining margins are expected to trend significantly lower. Production is expected to be flat, but with four major projects due to have been completed by the end of the year its building a solid foundation for the future and it has upped its longer-term profit guidance.

“Despite a strong run in the shares, the valuation remains well below the long-term average. The market has been disappointed by today’s results and concerns remain around the Group’s renewable ambitions, but fundamentally BP is well placed to continue building shareholder value.”

Shell will report on Thursday.

BP shares sank in early trade on Tuesday after the oil major announced slowing profit that missed analyst estimates.

Earlier in October, we published a premium article explaining BP offers little value above 550p. We argued that the move higher in BP due to Saudi Arabian and Russian supply lacked conviction, and the BP share price was vulnerable to a pullback.

We also voiced concerns about the energy pricing mix and how this could impact BP’s earnings.

Today’s results revealed a punishing reduction in Q3 2023 profit that missed estimates. Underlying replacement cost profit was $3.3bn in Q3 2023 as revenue slipped to $54bn from $57bn a year ago.

BP shares were down 4.1% at the time of writing on Tuesday.

The main culprit in BP’s falling revenue and profit was weaker gas prices and trading activities. Lower oil prices also weighed on profit as oil refining margins fell.

BP is not alone in the oil sector in missing estimates; Chevron and Exxon recently released earnings weaker than analyst forecasts.

However, market sentiment is clearly turning against BP – a $1.5 billion share buyback did little to offset the shareholder disappointment around lower-than-expected earnings.

BP maintained its dividend at 7.27 cents per share.

With oil prices failing to maintain strength despite heightened geopolitical risks, the outlook for BP is increasingly uncertain, which is reflected in BP’s share price action today.