Ted Baker reports ‘resilient’ trading
Fashion retailer Ted Baker has described its trading as resilient in the 11 weeks to 18 July after it benefited from a particularly strong performance online.
The company said group revenue was down 55% to £60.9 million in the period as in-store sales dropped by 79% to £15.8 million due to its shops being closed during the Covid-19 lockdown. In contrast, online sales surged by 35% to £35.2 million which Ted Baker retailer said was significantly ahead of expectations.
The company is currently working its way through a transformation plan and this year has introduced more sophisticated cross-category merchandising and increased its social media engagement and marketing spend.
Rachel Osborne, Ted Baker chief executive, said: “I am pleased with the early progress we have made in driving operational excellence and cost efficiencies since the launch of Ted’s Formula for Growth in June. Our customers are engaging with the brand and responding to our Covid-19 promotional activity, as evidenced by our resilient trading over the past 11 weeks.”
As of 18 July 2020, 95% of the company’s store estate was open across the world. It said like-for-like store sales declined by 50% year-on-year in the last four weeks of the trading period, although online trading has remained significantly ahead of expectations.
Osborne added: “Our performance is encouraging, but I caution that it is still early days, and we have a substantial amount of work to do over the next 12 months against a backdrop of significant uncertainty in the world. However, the brand has an exciting future, and I am looking forward with cautious optimism that the initiatives currently underway across all areas of the business will bear fruit over the next 12 months.”
