* Ted Baker says performance recovered in UK, N. American
malls
* Overall sales up 50% in Q2
* Shares flat in early trading
* Retail sales still down 30% vs pre-crisis levels
(Adds details, background, share move)
Sept 7 (Reuters) - Upmarket fashion retailer Ted Baker's
sales surged during the second quarter as customers
returned to shops after months of coronavirus restrictions in
search of new clothes for socialising again.
Ted Baker, which has 560 stores and concessions, pointed to
a rebound in North American and UK shopping malls as consumer
confidence picked up, helping retail sales - comprising in-store
and online sales - jump 30% during the period. Online sales
alone, however, dropped by 25% as consumers headed back to
stores.
Overall sales, including wholesale and licensing as well,
were up 50% from a year earlier when stay-at-home orders
hammered demand for formal wear, forcing Ted Baker to cut
hundreds of jobs and raise money to weather the impact of the
coronavirus pandemic.
Retail sales during the second quarter, however, were still
a third lower compared to pre-pandemic levels, the company said.
Ted Baker's shares, which surged more than 8% on Monday in
anticipation of Tuesday's update, were flat in early trading on
the London bourse. With a year-to-date rise of 45%, they look to
end 2021 with an annual gain after five straight years of
losses.
Aside from the pandemic, Ted Baker has been working on
regaining investor trust under fresh management after former
boss Ray Kelvin left in 2019 following misconduct allegations.
He has denied the allegations and still owns nearly 12% of the
company he founded in 1988 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Ted Baker is now valued at 319 million pounds ($441.56
million) compared to 1.3 billion pounds in 2015.
Current CEO Rachel Osborne, a former Debenhams executive,
has been overseeing a three-year turnaround plan focussed on
cutting costs, revamping the company's product range, and
increasing its digital presence.
"We have made encouraging progress, with trading over the
second quarter in line with expectations, albeit the speed of
recovery is different across store locations and regions,"
Osborne said in the company's statement.
Ted Baker said certain technical aspects have taken longer
than expected to resolve, adding its new eCommerce platform will
now go live early next year given the current proximity to the
key Christmas and end of year holiday season.
($1 = 0.7224 pounds)
(Reporting by Chris Peters and Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing
by Devika Syamnath and Susan Fenton)
