LONDON (Alliance News) - SuperGroup PLC on Thursday said its revenue surged in the first half, driven by positive momentum and a benefit from translating its overseas sales into sterling.
The owner of the Superdry clothing brand said group revenue rose 31% in the 26 weeks to October 29 to GBP334.0 million from GBP254.7 million, with growth in retail revenue of 25% and wholesale revenue increasing 44% year-on-year.
The group saw good sales momentum in its retail business, driven by strong online sales, and the weak pound also delivered a substantial benefit, accounting for around a third of the growth in each division, SuperGroup said.
SuperGroup, however, said its gross margin for the first half is set to fall around 130 basis points year-on-year due to a higher proportion of lower-margin wholesale revenue. Clearance activity and the trial of some one-off promotion initiatives also weighed on margins.
SuperGroup anticipates its underlying pretax profit for its full year will meet market expectations.
"This is another good performance particularly when set against last year's strong first half trading. Our new product ranges continue to perform well and during the second quarter our continuity ranges provided trading resilience when the weather across Europe was unseasonably warm," said Chief Executive Euan Sutherland.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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