British fashion retailer Ted Baker plc (LON:TED) have emulated their 2017 success over the Christmas period, and have seen their shares rally in trading today, despite admitting that the adverse conditions experienced in 2018 are set to continue.
High street slowdown and a decline in wholesale turnover was compounded by controversy surrounding Founder and Chief Exec Ray Kelvin, which marred the company in the run-up to the Christmas period.
However, the company have bounced back with sales for the five-week period from December the second up 12.2% on-year, and up 10.5% on a constant currency basis.
Despite challenges, acting Chief Executive Lindsay Page said the company were in line to meet expectations, “against a backdrop of increased promotional activity”
“The Ted Baker brand has delivered a good performance across both our stores and e-commerce business, despite the continuing challenging external trading conditions across our markets,”
“This result again reflects the strength of the brand and the quality of our collections.”
The company owes much of its recent success to the expansion of its online retail opportunities. E-commerce sales spiked 18.7% during the period, to make up 25.7% of net sales.
Before taking a backseat, Founder Ray Kelvin noted that,
“The investment in our flexible business model ensures that the Ted customer has multiple channels to engage with the brand and underpins our long term development. Our global e-commerce business continues to grow well and is complemented by our digital marketing strategy and unique stores that showcase the brand.”
The company’s shares are currently trading up 17.2% or 278p at 1,894p per share. Without consensus – Peel Hunt analysts reiterate their ‘Hold’ stance, Liberum Capital reiterates their ‘Buy’ stance and RBC Capital Markets reiterate their ‘Outperform’ stance on Ted Baker stock.