Ted Baker meets resolutions

British fashion brand Ted Baker is pleased to announce that so far 2008 turns out to be a good year. The resolutions as set out in the Notice of Meeting contained in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 26 January 2008 were passed unanimously. Ted Baker announced a 8.4% increase in Group revenue for the 19 week period from 27 January to 7 June 2008 compared to the same period last year, with gross margins in line with expectations. Retail sales for that period were 15.4% above the same period last year, driven by its well received spring/summer collections. Average retail square footage rose by 13.6% over the period to 172,696 sq.ft. compared to 152,043 sq.ft. in 2007. During the period Ted Baker announced the launch of their second standalone store dedicated to womenswear in South Molton Street, London and the opening of the 'Ted Baker & Friends' store on Cheapside, its first store in the City of London. Further store openings included Heathrow Terminal 5, Belfast and Cambridge.

Even though the wholesale sales for the beginning of 2008 were 8.6% below the same period last year, this is an improvement on the figures reported at the time of Ted Baker's preliminary announcement. The company anticipates that the conditions will remain challenging for some of its wholesale customers during 2008 and will continue to take action in respect of those customers who are no longer appropriate for our brand. Ted Baker expects wholesale sales for 2008 to be below the level achieved for the period 26 January 2008.

Commenting on trading, Ray Kelvin, Founder and Chief Executive, said: "Considering the tougher retail climate, we have been pleased with our performance across the Group and the positive reaction from customers to our Spring Summer collections. We plan to open further stores in White City (London), Bristol and Liverpool in the second half of the year and a further licensed store will open in Dubai in early September. We continue to consider further opportunities for the careful expansion of our brand, both in the UK and overseas and continue to develop the range and quality of our collections as exemplified by our premium womenswear collection 'Langley'.

As always, full year results are dependent on trading in the second half of the year, however, we believe that our continued focus on high product quality and attention to detail combined with our robust multi channel distribution model, means that we are well placed to deliver further progress in 2008."

Image: Ted Baker