FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Zalando (DE:ZALG), Europe's largest dedicated online fashion retailer, lifted its full-year revenue forecast after sales growth accelerated further in the first half.
The Berlin-based company now expects revenue to grow 28-31 percent in 2015, having previously guided for a 20-25 percent increase.
"Zalando is powering ahead to take full advantage of the great opportunities in European fashion e-commerce," board member Rubin Ritter said in a statement on Thursday.
The world's No. 6 in apparel and footwear internet retailing affirmed its full-year target for an adjusted operating margin of 4.5 percent after posting a 4.1 percent margin for the second quarter.
Profitability in the second quarter suffered because the group temporarily offered more generous payment terms to customers which resulted in a higher rate of defaults.
Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) decreased to 30.2 million euros ($33.66 million) in the April-June period, down from 35.1 million euros last year. Second-quarter revenues grew 34.1 percent to 733 million euros.
Zalando shares were indicated to open 2.9 percent higher at brokerage Lang & Schwarz before German market open at 0700 GMT.