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Ted Baker has posted a 3.5% rise in profits before tax and exceptional items to £25m as it continues to deal with “challenging external trading conditions”.
During the six month period ending 11 August, the fashion retailer also saw group revenues increase by 3.5% to £306m up from £295m the previous year, this was boosted by a 24.1% in online sales as it contributed £53m.
UK and Europe retail sales were marginally up with a 1% increase to £147.1m with North America retail sales also up 1.8% to £61.8m. This managed to offset a 1.8% decrease in rest of the world sales which fell to £11.2m.
The company also continued its planned expansion continued with two store openings in the UK, three new stores in the US, one store in Spain, two new outlets in Germany and one new outlet in France. This increased Ted Baker’s average retail square footage by 5.5%.
Ray Kelvin, founder and chief executive, said: “Ted Baker has continued to develop and expand as a global lifestyle brand across its markets and distribution channels despite challenging external trading conditions. This continued growth is testament to the strength of the Ted Baker brand, the design and quality of our collections as well as the dedication and talent of our teams.
“Whilst we believe that the second half of the year will remain challenging due to external factors, we are well positioned to continue Ted Baker’s long-term development. Our flexible business model ensures that our customer has multiple channels to engage with Ted Baker and our global e-commerce business continues to expand, supported by our digital marketing strategy and unique stores that showcase the brand.”
Ted Baker also declared an interim dividend of 17.9p (2017: 16.6p), representing an increase of 7.8%, to be paid on the 23 November 2018.
