Zalando increases quarterly revenue by 5 percent

Berlin-based online fashion retailer Zalando SE (Zalando) further increased its revenue in the third quarter of the 2026 financial year. According to an interim report published on Tuesday, the company also made progress in its adjusted operating result. However, the bottom line was in the red.

From July to September, group revenue totalled 3.17 billion euros (3.55 billion dollars). This represented an increase of 5.1 percent year-over-year. Gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew by 7.5 percent to just under 4.54 billion euros.

Special items weigh on earnings

Reported earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell by 73.3 percent to 13.1 million euros due to high one-off charges. Adjusted for special items, however, it rose by 10.6 percent to 106.5 million euros. According to the company, reasons for the improvement included “lower fulfilment costs, synergies from the About You integration reaching a low double-digit million amount in the quarter, as well as strong business-to-business (B2B) growth”.

The net loss stood at 18 million euros, after the company had achieved a surplus of 12.5 million euros in the prior-year period.

Chief financial officer (CFO) Anna Dimitrova highlighted the positive developments in recent months. “After one year, the integration of About You is making good progress and we are maintaining our pace in realising synergies,” she explained in a statement. “At the same time, we are accelerating our transformation towards a platform model. Our partner business and retail media are growing at double-digit rates, while B2B revenue increased by almost 28 percent.”

Full-year forecasts remain unchanged

In the first nine months of the current year, group revenue reached just under 9.6 billion euros, representing a 16 percent YoY growth. The acquisition of e-commerce company About You, which was completed on July 11, 2025, played a major role in the significant improvement. GMV rose by 16.2 percent to 13.7 billion euros. EBIT adjusted for special items increased by 14.5 percent to 376.2 million euros.

However, earnings were impacted by restructuring costs of 197 million euros. According to the company, these resulted mainly from costs “in connection with the closure of our logistics centre in Erfurt as part of the redesign of our logistics network, as well as further measures to increase structural efficiency, particularly at our headquarters in Berlin and in our studios and outlets”.

Consequently, reported EBIT fell by 79.4 percent to 44.5 million euros. The net loss for the first nine months was 31.8 million euros. In the prior-year period, Zalando had recorded a net profit of 119 million euros.

The latest figures gave management no reason to change the current full-year forecasts. For 2026, the group continues to expect growth in GMV and revenue “in the lower half of the 12 to 17 percent range” and an adjusted EBIT of between 680 and 720 million euros.