Ted Baker sales swell on international expansion

International expansion helped Ted Baker lift sales 20.5% in the third quarter, with the clothing retailer outperforming rivals that have bemoaned the unseasonable British weather.

Strong performances from both the UK and North American businesses contributed to the growth in the 13 weeks to 14 November and chief executive Ray Kelvin said the reaction to the autumn and winter collections had been "very encouraging".

Sales from the group's stores jumped 18.1% in constant and reported currency rates as the average retail square footage rose by 7.0% to 352,382 sq ft.

This was achieved despite a continuation of the challenging trading environment in several international markets that Kelvin had indicated at the time of interim results in October.

During the period, Ted Baker opened shops in Stansted Airport, Amsterdam, Hawaii, Malibu and Toronto, and further concessions in department stores in Germany, Ireland, Spain, North America and South Korea.

The website delivered another strong performance with sales increasing 74.3%, while wholesale revenues surged 27% due to the strong performances in UK and US.

For the full year, Kelvin now expects wholesale sales for the full year to be approximately 28% ahead of last year on a reported basis, an improvement from the 25% guidance given last month.

Both retail and wholesale gross margins were described as being in line with management expectations.

Kelvin concluded by stressing that the ultimate degree of success of the year would be dependent on trading conditions over the important few weeks of the Christmas period.