Supergroup enjoys ‘successful’ first half
Supergroup,the owner of Superdry, saw its retail like-for-like sales climb by 15.5% in its second quarter as trade was boosted by buoyant online sales.
This meant that group revenues for the first half of the financial year increased by 22.4% to £254.9 million, which also reflected growth in the company’s wholesale channels and a healthy new store pipeline.
Supergroup said its wholesale division continued to perform well with revenue growth of 8% in the half year despite the impact of sterling strengthening against the Euro.
Following 14 net new store openings in the first half, of which 11 were outside the UK and Republic of Ireland, new and non-annualised retail space contributed 14.1% sales growth over the period. Owned retail space increased year-on-year by 21.2% in the period.
Supergroup said it is continuing to secure new owned retail space in Germany and is making progress in resetting the North American operation and in the set-up of the China joint venture with Trendy International Group.
Euan Sutherland, Supergroup chief executive, said: “The group traded positively throughout the first half of FY16. To support our vision of building Superdry into a global lifestyle brand, we have further improved our infrastructure and developed our product offering, including womenswear, Superdry Sport and Superdry Snow.
“With a successful first half completed, the business is well placed for the all-important peak season and we remain confident of delivering full year profits in line with our existing guidance although comparatives throughout the second half are more challenging.”
Supergroup also announced the appointment of Nick Tatum as global retail director with responsibility for the company’s retail operations and logistics. Tatum has joined the group after an extensive career at Tesco where he held a range of senior leadership roles in store retail operations and commercial category management.
