Cold weather boosts sales at Superdry
SuperGroup, the owner of the Superdry fashion brand, grew its sales by 20.3% in its second quarter as cold weather and new ranges helped to boost sales.
In the 13 weeks to 28 October, group sales grew to £98.4 million while total UK sales rose 32.2% on the same period last year to reach £52.2 million. Like-for like sales increased by 5.8%.
Although the performance is measured against soft prior year comparatives when issues with the company’s warehouse management system were followed by a 3.3% decline in like-for-like sales, the group’s sales continued the upward trend seen in the first quarter when total UK sales increased by 19.7%.
Looking across the half year, total group sales increased by 16.2% to £158.2 million while in the UK sales rose 26.5% to £92.4 million. Like-for-like sales grew by 3.9%. SuperGroup said it expects its full year profits to be in line with market expectations despite “challenging” economic conditions.
Never Miss a Retail Update!The group’s second quarter performance was helped by the cold weather, particularly towards the end of the quarter, and by the impact of new Autumn/Winter ranges. The quarter’s total retail sales also benefited from the sell-through of third party stocks, arising from the rebranding of Cult stores, and the clearance of prior seasons’ Superdry ranges.
On a constant currency basis, the group’s wholesale sales for the quarter were £48.4 million, up 14.4%. Adjusting for foreign exchange rate movements the currency adjusted sales figure was £46.2 million, an increase of 9.2%. For the half year, sales growth at constant currency was up 7.9% (adjusting for currency, up 4.4%). Orders from Europe and the rest of the world have continued to show significant growth, with UK Wholesale sales continuing to decline as expected.
In a statement, SuperGroup chief executive Julian Dunkerton said: ‘‘This is a further solid set of results from the Group. We recognise that economic conditions remain challenging but through our sales performance to date we can see that the Superdry brand remains in good health and is well positioned ahead of our peak trading.
“Whilst I am pleased with the progress that the new team is making there remains much to do. We are in the process of introducing a key number of systems and operational developments to ensure our infrastructure capabilities match the size of the business and our ambitions. I am, however, confident that the Group will deliver these and meet its financial objectives.”
