Fashion firm Ted Baker PLC (LON:TED) hailed a “good performance” across all of its distribution channels despite challenging conditions in its markets.
In the 28 weeks ended 13 August, the group achieved a 14.4% increase in revenue to £259.5mln from £226.8mln, helped by the weakness of sterling; on a constant currency (CC) basis the year-on-year (YOY) rise would have been 10.7%.
Retail sales, including online sales, were up 13.6% YOY (CC: +9.6%), with North America’s performance catching the eye with a 28.7% (CC: +18.8%) increase in sales to £51.1mln, helped by the opening of two new stores in the US of A.
The composite gross margin increased to 58.9% from 57.6% in the same period of 2015, mainly due to an increase in the retail gross margin.
Profit before tax jumped 20.5% to £21.5mln from £17.8mln the year before and was accompanied by a 12.1% hike in the interim dividend to 14.8p. Foreign exchange gains boosted profit before tax by £1.2mln this time round, whereas last year they lowered it by £0.7mln.
As for current trading, the group said it was pleased with the reaction to its autumn/winter collections, but cautioned that external factors continue to have an effect on trading in its established markets, which means conditions remain challenging.
“Whilst the group has had a good start to the financial year, our results for the full year will, as always, be dependent on the second half trading period. Underpinned by the strength of the Ted Baker brand, our business model and balanced distribution channels, we remain confident of delivering continued growth and development,” the group said.
The shares rose 3.3% to 2,493.54p on the results but are down 17.8% year-to-date.