Superdry sales hit by supply problems

Superdry owner Supergroup has reported a dip in half-year profits after being hit by problems at a warehouse that affected supplies of its clothing. Underlying pre-tax profits for the six months to 30 October were £13m, down from £13.5m last year, afte

it took a £4m hit for the supply problems.

The firm estimates the supply problems will cost it £8.8m for the full year. However, Supergroup said the problems had now been sorted and that its retail business was seeing rising sales.

It said like-for-like sales - which strip out the impact of new stores - in the current quarter were "positive", whereas they were down 3.3% in the previous quarter.

During the six-month period, the company opened another 12 shops, taking its total number of stand-alone outlets to 72.

The Cheltenham-based company also plans to open eight new shops by April next year, including a new flagship store on London's Regent Street.

Supergroup had announced in October that problems with a new management system - which disrupted supplies of the firm's clothing to its stores - would cost it up to £9m, and the news pushed its shares down 30%.

Supergroup's share price has seen large swings since the company listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2010 at a price of £5 per share.

The price rose steadily to peak at more than £18 in February this year, but then fell back after news of slowing sales growth and the distribution problems.

On Wednesday morning, the shares were trading up 37.5p, or 7.5%, at 540p.

Image: Superdry AW11 campaign