Results round-up

Fashion retailer Ted Baker reported a jump in interim profit as revenue grew and the company lifted its dividend following a good performance across all channels, despite challenging trading conditions.

In the 28 weeks ended 13 August, pre-tax profit rose to £21.5m from £17.8m on revenue of £259.5m, up 14.4% from the same period a year ago.

Profit was just a touch higher than consensus expectations of between £19m and £21m and the company said the increase was helped in part by foreign exchange gains of £1.2m, compared to a loss of £700,000 in 2015.

The group lifted its interim dividend to 14.8p per share from 13.2p.

Retail sales including e-commerce were up 13.6%, with sales in the UK and Europe up 8.5% to £131.2m and in North America up 28.7% to £51.1m. In Asia, retail sales were 15.8% higher at £8.8m.

Founder and chief executive Ray Kelvin said: “Ted Baker continues to perform well across all distribution channels despite challenging trading conditions across our markets. Our continued growth and development reflects the strength of the Ted Baker brand, our business model and the skill, innovation and passion of our global teams.

“We remain firmly focused on the long-term development of the Ted Baker brand and are continuing to invest in our infrastructure and people to support the future growth of our business in both new and existing markets.”

In terms of current trading, Ted Baker said it was pleased with the reaction to its Autumn/Winter collections. However, ongoing external factors impacting trading across its established markets have meant that conditions remain challenging.

In the UK and Europe, it has continued its expansion with concession openings in the UK and Germany. In addition, it plans to open an outlet in Spain, and further concessions in the UK, France, Germany and Spain later this year.

Profits fell 20% in the first half of the year for specialist-fit clothing retailer N Brown, but this was ahead of consensus forecasts and followed a recovery in sales in the second quarter.

The interim dividend was held flat at 5.67p as the company revealed the the autumn-winter season has started in line with its plans, with management adopting a "more assertive stance" on prices and an agile approach in order to cope with a backdrop which "remains volatile".

Group revenue rose 1% to £429.4m in the six months to 27 August, with product sales recovering to 0.6% growth from the 1.6% decline in the first quarter and financial services slowing to 1.9% from 3.4%.

Underlying profit before tax, which excludes exceptional items and unrealised currency movements, was down to £31.6m from£39.4m in the same period last year, ahead of company-compiled consensus expectations.

An exceptional cost of £9m related to financial services customer redress was larger than the £5m-£8m previously announced, with guidance for the 2017 financial year pointing to around £12m of exceptionals, with circa £2m expected in the second half from the ongoing UK tax disputes.

Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations 8.95p fell 20%.

Net debt was up to £286.7m from £239.8m.

Chief executive Angela Spindler hailed the progress made as she wrestles the retailer into the digital age.