Ted Baker pre-tax profits rise 25%

Ted Baker’s retail sales grew 17.2% to £71.9m over the period. UK and European store sales were up 14.4% to £64.2m.

Ted Baker said UK and European retail square footage at August 14 was 186,605 sq ft, up 7.2% on the previous year and that retail sales per square foot in the same territories increased 5.4% to £331.

Ray Kelvin, chief executive, said: “This is a strong performance for the first half of 2010. We continue to expand the Ted Baker brand in new and existing territories, whilst maintaining our focus on design, quality, innovation and attention to detail.”

Wholesale sales grew 6.3% to £16.2m over the 28 weeks. Ted Baker said growth was attributable to an encouraging start to its US wholesale business. Total UK wholesale sales dropped to £14.9m from £15.3m the previous year due to some wholesale accounts being transferred into concessions. It said underlying UK wholesale sales were 2.5% above the same period last year and in line with expectations.

Womenswear delivered a strong performance with sales up 17.3% to £43.3m, representing 49.1% of total sales. Menswear sales rose 12.8% to £44.8m and accounted for 50.9% of total sales.