Online fashion firm Asos tops Marks & Spencer's market valuation of £4.88bn as shopping stalwarts stumble and internet retailers thrive. The 17-year-old fashion website has been biting at M&S's heels for several months but on 17 November 2017 its shares gained 2%, boosting its market value to £4.89bn, making it a more valuable business than the 133-year-old high street giant, now worth £4.88bn, according to Reuters data revealing the number of shares in issue.

Earlier this year, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Mark Photiades predicted Asos would leapfrog M&S as the website, aimed at fashion hungry twentysomethings, grows in stature just as traditional store groups struggle to grow. Photiades said that 20 years ago, when online shopping was in its infancy and before Asos was established, M&S had a market value of £16.9bn. When Asos floated on the stock market in October 2001, it was valued at £14m, compared with £7.8bn for M&S. The market valuation of a company reflects expected future earnings: M&S remains bigger both in sales and in terms of profit. Asos recorded sales of £1.9bn last year, compared with £10.6bn at M&S. Profits were £80m and £176.4m, respectively.

The shift in retail power is being compared with the automotive industry, where the electric carmaker Tesla sped ahead of the 114-year-old Ford Motor Company in April to become the US's most valuable car manufacturer. Similarly, the online retailer Amazon is now worth nearly twice as much as Walmart.

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