Superdry boss says Germany to overtake UK
SUPERGROUP chief executive Julian Dunkerton yesterday laid out his ambitions for the fashion retailer’s German business to overtake its home market, as it revealed a 22 per cent jump in third quarter sales to £141m.
Dunkerton said the Superdry owner will be shifting its focus away from the UK towards international expansion and that around 80 per cent of the new space opened from April, its next financial year, will be overseas compared with 20 per cent this year.
Europe is top of Supergroup’s agenda and in particular Germany after the company took control of its franchise partner in November.
“We are always looking around the world for the most logical next step forward but Europe is where you are more likely to see more activity in the near term,” Dunkerton said.
“Germany alone could be bigger than the UK. That is where our business has the most potential. From all the indicators that we have – it’s a big market, they love our product and it’s moving in the right direction.”
Supergroup has opened 79,000 square feet in the year to date, and expects to have opened 100,000 square feet by the end of the year – up 24 per cent on 2012.
Like-for-like sales growth slowed to 1.3 per cent in the three months to 26 January from 7.8 per cent in the second quarter after selling less marked-down stock on eBay.
Excluding the impact of eBay, underlying sales rose 4.9 per cent, the company said.