Ted Baker has defied the doom and gloom that has befallen UK retail in recent months with an uptick an annual sales thanks to its strong ecommerce arm, as well as strong trading in North America.
For the 52 weeks ending January 27, the British retailer saw group revenue grow by 11.4 per cent, or 9.6 per cent in constant currency, to £591.7 million.
Overall retail sales grew 10.4 per cent, or 8.5 per cent in constant currency, to £442.5 million, boosted by 39.8 per cent surge in ecommerce sales to £101.1 million.
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Retail sales in the fashion retailer’s US and Canadian markets also boosted the overall figure, booking a 16.2 per cent sales rise, or 12.4 per cent in constant currency, to £120.1 million.
Meanwhile, Ted Baker’s UK and Europe retail sales came in at £301.1 million, a 7.7 per cent increase or 6.4 per cent in constant currency.
On the other hand, overall wholesale sales were up 14.6 per cent, or 13.3 per cent in constant currency, to £149.2 million, while licence income increased 17.6 per cent to £21.4 million.
The upmarket fashion retailer said annual profit before tax increased by 12.3 per cent to £68.8 million, while profit before tax and exceptional items grew 11.7 per cent to £73.5 million.
Despite the positive results, the upmarket retailer warned of challenging trading conditions for the start of its 2018 financial year, due to the recent unseasonal weather across Europe and the east coast of America.
“Our new collections have been received positively and although we anticipate external trading conditions will remain challenging across many of our global markets, the strength of our brand and business model mean that we remain well positioned to continue the group’s momentum and long-term development,” Ted Baker founder and chief executive Ray Kelvin said.
“We have a clear strategy for growth across both established and new markets which is underpinned by our controlled, multi-channel distribution as well as the design, quality and attention to detail that are at the heart of everything we do.”
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