* Company swings to pretax loss of nearly 80 mln pounds
* Announces stock offering of 95 mln pounds
* Shares plunge 24% in early trade
(Adds share move)
June 1 (Reuters) - Ted Baker plans to raise 95
million pounds ($118 million) by selling new shares to help it
ride out the coronavirus crisis, the fashion brand said on
Monday, as it slumped to an annual loss.
Shares in the company, known for suits, shirts and dresses
with quirky details, fell as much as 24% in early trade, taking
losses for this year to more than 70%.
It is the latest British firm to seek cash from shareholders
as the coronavirus pandemic plunges the economy into recession,
following the likes of office provider IWG, events guide
specialist Time Out and caterer Compass.
Even before the crisis, Ted Baker was struggling to recover
from setbacks including an accounting scandal, profit warnings
and management change after founder Ray Kelvin stepped down amid
misconduct allegations, which he denies.
New Chief Executive Rachel Osborne, a former manager at
department stores group Debenhams, laid out a transformation
plan on Monday including cost savings and a shift towards online
sales. Analysts say Ted Baker has struggled to hold onto
customers amid online competition from the likes of Boohoo.com.
The company plans to gradually reopen stores - closed since
a lockdown to contain the virus pandemic in late March - from
the middle of this month, in line with government guidance.
For the year ended Jan. 25, Ted Baker made a pretax loss of
79.9 million pounds, compared with a profit of 30.7 million in
the prior year. Total revenue fell 1.4% to 630.5 million pounds.
Revenues also slumped 36% for the 14 weeks from Jan. 26 to
May 2.
"The Board recognises that last year's performance was
disappointing for all of Ted Baker's stakeholders, reflecting a
challenging external environment as well as significant internal
disruption, driven by a number of senior leadership departures,"
the company said.
($1 = 0.8062 pounds)
(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and
Mark Potter)
