Ted Baker’s share price rises as retailer hikes dividend and posts 21 per cent profit
Retailer Ted Baker has shrugged off "challenging trading conditions" to hike its dividend and post robust double-digit profit growth in the first half of the year.
The figures
Revenue at the clothes and accessories maker rose by 14.4 per cent to £259.5m in the 28 weeks to 13 August, while profit before tax grew by 20.5 per cent to £21.5m.
E-commerce sales were a major driver of growth in the period, rising by 29.7 per cent to £29.7m.
Read more: Ted Baker's online strategy is paying off
In a regional breakdown, Ted Baker said its North America retail sales grew fastest at 28.7 per cent to £51.1m, while sales in Asia and the UK/Europe grew by 15.8 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively.
Ted Baker raised its interim divi 12.1 per cent to 14.8p.
Shares in the company were up four per cent this morning to 2,507.5p.
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Why it's interesting
Since floating in 1997, Ted Baker has expanded outside Britain and now has 448 stores across the globe, generating over 40 per cent of its sales overseas.
In the first half of the year, Ted Baker continued its planned expansion with two new store openings in the US, one new store in Canada and China, new concessions in Europe, the UK and Asia and licensee store openings in locations including Azerbaijan, Egypt, Mexico and Vietnam.
Read more: Will more shareholders say no to executive pay?
Licensed income increased by 23.2 per cent to £7.9m in the period, and the company's management said it was "encouraged" by the early performance of licensed stores in South Africa and Vietnam.
What Ted Baker said
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.