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12 September 2012 10:39
Superdry's parent company said today that it had weathered the challenges of the summer such as unseasonal weather conditions and aggressive promotions on the high street.
The group, which owns 81 stores in the UK, said that its sales of jackets, gilets and sweatshirts proved that the Superdry range offered a degree of protection against the weather. In the 13 weeks to July 29th, total sales were up 20% at £40.2 million, whilst like-for-like sales rose by 1.7%.
SuperGroup has endured a stormy period, in which its chief executive of wholesale and international stepped down, annual profits fell by 15% and it was forced to slow expansion plans.
Wholesale sales for the 13-week period were £19.6 million, down 5.6% on the year, but the group said this reflects differences in timing of stock despatches to UK and international partners compared to last year. It said a more representative reflection of current performance is the order book for autumn/winter 2012, which shows an uplift of around 7% on last year for the season as a whole.
As well as opening two standalone stores in Sunderland and Windsor during the quarter, the company has nearly completed a five-year deal with Azadea, a franchise operator across the Middle East and North Africa, to open stores across Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar and Bahrain.
The portfolio of franchised stores has increased by 13 during the quarter to 102 – six stores were opened in Spain and one in Greece, France, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Venezuela and South Africa.
Chief executive Julian Dunkerton said: "Trading conditions remain volatile and unpredictable, but SuperGroup has produced a pleasing performance and while we recognise that it is early in the year we are on course to meet our financial objectives."
