Frasers’ Boohoo stake-building continues, but it cuts ASOS stake

​Frasers Group is continuing its enthusiastic stake-building in major UK fashion e-tailer Boohoo Group while share prices remain low. But its ASOS stake is now a few percent below what it was last week.

The latest purchase revealed on Wednesday takes its Boohoo position to 16.5%, up from the 15.1% level it reached early last week.

Frasers’ earlier purchases had already made it the single largest shareholder in Boohoo, whose shares currently trade for just over 30p each, down from the £4+ they reached in 2020.

The latest notified ASOS purchase by the firm had been late last week when it revealed it had raised its stake from 22.7% to 23%. But on Wednesday a filing showed the stake down to 19%. That could be a reaction to ASOS expectations of losses when it releases its delayed annual results next week.

ASOS shares are priced just below £3.90 each, again well below the £75+ they reached in 2018.

And they remain at ‘bargain’ levels, falling further on Wednesday, which means it won’t be any surprise if Frasers raises its stake further even after this week’s reduction in its holding.

ASOS will deliver its full-year results along with a strategy update on 1 November. It will be interesting to see whether any mention is made of the Frasers stake in the firm.

The performance for the period to 3 September should see full-year adjusted group revenue of £3.538 billion, while H2 adjusted EBIT will be “more than £38 million”, resulting in a full-year adjusted EBIT loss of “no more than £31 million”.