* Q4 sales down 47% on closures, weak Christmas
* Co expects UK stores to stay shut till May-end
* Transformation plan on track
* Shares down 5.6%
(Adds shares, analyst comment, details on turnaround,
background)
By Tanishaa Nadkar
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Fashion brand Ted Baker said on
Thursday it expects its UK stores to stay closed until the end
of May due to coronavirus restrictions, as it reported a 47%
fall in fourth-quarter revenue, citing lockdowns and weak
Christmas demand.
"Looking forward, we are taking a cautious planning approach
and now assume that UK stores will remain closed until the end
of May followed by a gradual recovery over the rest of the first
half," Chief Executive Officer Rachel Osborne said.
The pandemic has been the latest blow for the struggling
fashion retailer, which has been hit by multiple profit
warnings, several management changes and an accounting scandal
since founder Ray Kelvin stepped down as CEO in 2019 after
misconduct allegations, which he denies.
Shares in the company, whose biggest shareholder is activist
investor Toscafund Asset Management, were down 5.6% at 98.6
pence by 0939 GMT. They fell 67% in 2020.
"Ted Baker is facing the perfect storm. Its brand is
synonymous with wedding-guest, occasion and workwear, which is
not what people buy during a pandemic. Added to that is the
group's lack of presence in out-of-town retail parks, which is
where footfall has shifted," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Sophie
Lund-Yates said.
The company said its three-year transformation plan, which
is focused on online operations, cost savings and revitalising
the brand, was making good progress.
It also highlighted its new online platform which will be
launched at the end of the first-quarter and announced a new
licensing agreement with bed linen brand Bedeck.
Ted Baker said it expects Brexit-related incremental costs
of up to 5 million pounds ($6.92 million). It earlier forecast a
hit of around 16.1 million pounds on full-year profit under a
worst-case scenario.
The company, which raised about 200 million pounds and cut
953 jobs last year to weather the coronavirus crisis, said it
achieved cost savings of around 34 million pounds.
($1 = 0.7224 pounds)
(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna
Chandra Eluri, Shounak Dasgupta and Susan Fenton)
