Mike Ashley’s Frasers raises stake in online retailer ASOS

(Reuters) – Britain’s Frasers Group raised its stake in online fashion retailer ASOS, a filing showed on Wednesday, as the Mike Ashley-owned sportswear retailer continues its drive into a more premium market.

Frasers, formerly called Sports Direct, increased its stake in ASOS to 7.4% from a prior stake of more than 5%, as of May 15.

Shares in ASOS, which have lost about 30% of its value in the past week, were trading up 9% by 1105 GMT.

The increase in stake comes a week after ASOS swung to a first-half loss, hit by a squeeze on household budgets and forecast a further drop in sales.

Frasers, known for picking up stake in fellow retailers, currently owns a 2.6% stake in German fashion house Hugo Boss, according to Refinitiv data.

Shares in Frasers were down 0.5%.

(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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