SuperGroup in Xmas boom
SHARES in SuperGroup, the firm behind the Superdry fashion brand, jumped more than 19 per cent yesterday after the company reported its best ever Christmas trading.
For the nine weeks to 2 January, total sales almost doubled to £65.1m from a year ago.
The company said it had managed to counter the impact of rising cotton prices and its profit margins would not be affected this year.
Last month, Supergroup shares slumped after the company mentioned the rising costs in an interim trading statement.
Retail sales in the final two months of last year rose by 94 per cent to £51.7m against a year earlier, while wholesale sales increased by 78 per cent to £13.4m.
Chief executive Julian Dunkerton said: “This performance demonstrates the strength of our brand and the loyalty of our customers. As a result of negotiations with our suppliers and selected price increases, we have largely mitigated the rise in cotton prices and there will be no impact to our 2011 gross margins.”
Dunkerton said its overall sales growth would have approached 100 per cent had it not been for disruption caused by December’ s snow.
SuperGroup was launched in 1985 and has 59 stores under its Superdry and Cult brands, as well as 69 concessions. The company listed on the stock exchange last March.
Altium analyst Philip Dorgan said the performance had restored faith in the business after the “total cock-up” at its interims: “These sales numbers should go some way to reassuring the market that the bubble has not burst yet,” he said.
The shares closed 226p higher at 1,390p yesterday.