Asos boss quits as firm warns profits could nosedive

Insiders said his sudden exit was not related to the profit warning. 

“They’ve announced it in a really disrespectful way,” said one retail headhunter, who added that Mr Dyson helped to orchestrate the reshuffle at the top. The company has denied this.  

Mr Beighton will be available until the end of the year if the top brass needs his advice, but day-to-day running of the business will be handed to current finance boss Mat Dunn, who becomes chief operating officer. 

Mr Crozier ruled out Mr Dunn as the next chief executive of Asos: “We have hired headhunters. Just to be clear, given the brief that we’re looking for, Matt does not want to be considered.”

Mr Dunn said his job was to “hand it on in the best shape possible”. 

Asos has faced higher shipping costs and limited supply of some items amid labour shortages and global lockdowns, which have wreaked havoc at ports, especially in Shanghai. The disruption to international travel has also meant there are fewer planes to transport the clothes.

“These are all market issues rather than Asos issues,” Mr Crozier added.

Mr Dunn said it expected supply to be particularly constrained during the peak Christmas trading period and he anticipated disruption until at least February. 

Asos, which started in 2000 as As Seen On Screen, said the downgrade in its profit forecasts took into account last year’s so-called “Covid-19 benefit” of £67.3m because fewer clothes were being returned by customers.

It benefited from from shoppers switching online while shops were closed and people were told to stay at home, but the habit of sending back clothes was already normalising.

Without adjustments, Asos said pre-tax profit rose 25pc to £177.1m in the 12 months to the end of August compared with a year earlier.

Asos’ journey from digital trailblazer to fashion victim

By Ben Woods 

Nick Beighton was imparting his wisdom after riding high during lockdown. 

In a live-streamed interview, Asos’ boss reflected on his time transforming the digital upstart into an industry-defining company that has shaped consumer shopping habits over two decades. Since Beighton joined as finance chief in 2009, before taking the helm six years later, sales have rocketed from £165m to £3.9bn.

“You have to stay forever restless,” he told the British Chambers of Commerce in September. “You have to look at every bump in the road as an opportunity to fix.

“Asos and I were perfectly aligned in our interests, our skills, our views, our beliefs and I don’t think it is somewhere I could leave, until I have to leave.”

One month later, those comments have not aged well. After cheering a pandemic-induced boom, on Monday Beighton made a shock exit.