T.M. Lewin H1 turnover up 4 percent

T.M. Lewin is on a major international expansion 

plan. The company will open at least one new store or concession a week for the next three years. Just over half of the new openings will be in South Africa (46) and India (35) with the balance spread across the Far East (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines), Middle East (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Africa (Nigeria) and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic). The group is also looking at potential expansion into China, Japan and the United States.

T.M.Lewin is based in the UK, where it has 91 retail stores. It is a leading retailer of high quality men’s and women’s business wear. Geoff Quinn, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We have received a fantastic reception in many of our new store openings around the world. Clearly our brand is well known within the international business community and this has given us a lot of confidence with our plans. We are really pleased with our performance to date. Following on from a period of higher input costs which impacted margins, we have had a great bounce back primarily driven by very strong online sales and a whole new range of product.”

Benefiting from lower input costs, a significantly enhanced product range and the prior-year investment in the business, particularly in women’s wear, the company turnover in the first six months was ahead 4 percent and EBITDA up by 77 percent on the comparative period. Full year results are expected to be significantly ahead of the year ended March 2, 2013.