Rushed-out results reveal rise in profits at owner of Superdry
Fashion retailer Supergroup was forced to rush out a summary of its full-year results yesterday afternoon following “a random theft from an employee”.
The owner of the Superdry brand took action after discovering that an “external party” may have seen a draft of its preliminary results. In the surprise release to the City, the firm said pre-tax profits had jumped 53.1 per cent to £84.8 million for the 52 weeks to 29 April this year.
Revenues lifted 27.4 per cent to £752 mover the period, while like-for-like retail sales grew by 12.7 per cent.
Underlying basic earnings per share rose 17.4 per cent to 84.5p and the underlying operating margin was 11.9 per cent, compared with 12.6 per cent a year earlier.
Supergroup said its underlying gross margin was down 130 basis points to 60.2 per cent, “reflecting strength of wholesale channel mix”.
The group was due to publish its full-year results on Thursday 6 July, but decided to release an unaudited version of the headline figures following the incident. the complete fullyear results will now be published this coming Monday. ● Tesco and Booker have asked the competition watchdog to “fast-track” its review into their £3.7 billion merger, confirming that the deal is expected to face an in-depth probe. The firms have requested it speeds up referral to a more in-depth second phase.