Ted Baker posts "pleasing" Christmas trading figures

Premium fashion and lifestyle brand Ted Baker achieved a 9% uplift in sales in the eight weeks to 6 January, which its CEO Ray Kelvin described as a "pleasing result".

The 9% increase was in line with the brand's expectations, it said, and it reported that online had been particularly strong with sales up 35%; online sales now represent just over 30% of retail sales. The business added that its gross margins remained in line with expectations and it would end the year in a clean stock position.

"The Ted Baker brand has continued to perform in line with expectations over the Christmas period, delivering a good retail performance driven by particularly strong growth from e-commerce, which is an increasingly important part of our retail business. This pleasing result reflects the strength of the brand and the quality of our collections as well as the hard work, skill and commitment of our teams," said Kelvin.

"Whilst external trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in the year ahead, the strength of our brand and business model means that we remain well positioned to continue the long-term development of Ted Baker as a global lifestyle brand," he added.

Analyst  Fiona Cincotta at www.cityindex.co.uk described the results as "impressive" and said she saw further opportunity for the brand to grow. "This is an impressive rate of Christmas sales growth that sets Ted Baker up to keep the dividends flowing. Management's continued focus on investing in quirky designs is continuing to set Ted Baker apart from competitors, insulating it from broader retail-sector headwinds."

"The company has also gotten its e-commerce offering right in a space were so many of its competitors have fallen short. With a relatively small store footprint, there's plenty of room for growth at home and abroad, so long as management sticks to its disciplined site-selection strategy," she added.

In its trading update Ted Baker said it has increased average retail square footage by 5.9% to 409,226 sq ft (2016: 386,252 sq.ft) and said it had opened a new store in Montreal, further concessions in Germany and Spain and, with its licence partners, an additional store in each of Malaysia, Mexico and Qatar.