Ted Baker is heading to Mexico and planning more stores in Canada after strong growth across the Atlantic helped lift the fashion chain’s sales by a quarter.
Sales reached £226.8m in the 28 weeks to 15 August, up from £182.2m in the same period a year before, helping push profits up 14% to £17.8m. The strongest region in the half-year was North America, where sales rose 37.4% as Ted Baker moved into Canada with three stores as well as outlets within the Nordstrom department store chain.
Ray Kelvin, chief executive, said the company planned to open two more stores in Canada and would also launch six in-store concessions in Mexico with the Liverpool and Plateo department store groups after a successful trial in two outlets. “We already have good strong customer footfall in Miami and California and the Mexican market looks particularly good,” Kelvin said.
Ted Baker has 416 stores, concessions and other outlets in 48 countries. Internet sales rose by 64% in the half-year to £22.9m after new websites launched in Australia and Canada.
The UK market had been tough in August, Kelvin said. Shoppers from overseas had been put off by the strength of the pound against currencies including the euro, while the weather had also held back sales.
But he said: “We’re on an improving trend. The cold mornings and evenings have got outerwear off to a very good start.” Last autumn clothing retailers across the high street suffered from a period of balmy weather that hit sales of knitwear and coats.
Kelvin admitted that conditions in China and Hong Kong had been “challenging” over the half-year because of an economic slowdown. He said matters were improving in China but the situation remained tough for all retailers in Hong Kong, where Ted Baker now has two stores, as people from the mainland were being granted visas to come and shop only once a week. “It has affected the retail trade very badly,” Kelvin said.