New stores put Ted Baker FY profits in fashion

Full year pre-tax profits at fashion retailer Ted Baker rose 20.3% to £58.7m on the back of a 17% jump in revenue to £456.2m from store expansions and a solid performance in retail and wholesale operations.

Basic earnings per share rose 22.7% to 106.6p and shareholders will receive a total dividend of 47.8p a share compared with 40.3p last time.

The company said there had been a positive initial reponse to its spring and summer collections and trading was in line with expectations, with the exception of Asia, where the trading environment "continues to be challenging".

"Whilst Asia currently represents a small part of our business at 3.4% of revenue, we remain positive about the long term opportunities to develop the brand in this territory," the company said.

It added that more store openings are planned across new and established markets.

"We continue to develop and invest in our e-commerce business. In our newer markets, we continue to build brand awareness for the long-term development of the brand," Ted Baker said.

"In the UK and Europe, we plan to open a new store in Paris, and further concessions in France, Germany and Spain during the year. We will continue to invest in our e-commerce sites to enhance the customer experience and enhance the local content provided to our European customers, including launching our first language specific website in Germany."

"In North America, we remain focused on developing our presence and have opened a store in Seattle and plan to open a further five new stores, including two in New York and one in Calgary, Miami and Ottawa. We are also relocating our Dallas store."

"In Asia, we remain focused on building brand awareness in this market where we are in the relatively early stages of investment. In line with our development strategy in this territory, we have opened another store in Beijing and we are opening further concessions in China and Japan."