Shares in online fashion retailer Asos soared this morning after it revealed a 46 per cent third quarter year-on-year jump in sales.

The increase was mainly driven by international sales, up 93 per cent in the final three months of 2011, while the 10 per cent rise in UK sales was still ahead of market expectations of 5 per cent.

The FTSE AIM company’s revenues rose 45 per cent year-on-year to £150.5 million, while its retail gross margins increased 3 per cent.

CEO Nick Robertson commented, ‘With the business continuing to perform well through these challenging economic times, we remain confident about the outlook and expect our full-year results to be in line with market expectations.’

Broker Panmure Gordon had forecast a 47.7 per cent increase in revenues but it reassured investors in a research note that the results were positive.

Panmure explained, ‘We are raising our price target for Asos to 1865p from 1696p, following a strong third quarter statement, which should reassure the market as to its growth and profitability trajectory on many levels.’

Following the results and backing from Panmure, shares in Asos have rocketed, currently up 15.28 per cent at 1,720p at 10.25am, though this is still well short of its high of 2,468 in June last year.

Online retail sales continued to grow in the UK, up 14 per cent to £50 billion in 2011, according to a report from shopping comparison website Kelkoo.

Internet retail trade now accounts for 12 per cent of total retail spending, the highest in Europe, and Kelkoo predicts that internet sales will increase another 14 per cent in 2011, compared to an expected 3.65 per cent rise in total retail sales.