SuperGroup experiences January sales wobble

SuperGroup, owner of the Superdry brand, said profit for the year will be towards the lower end of market expectations after it experienced a challenging last three weeks in January.

The group, whose clothes are worn by a string of celebrities, said like-for-like sales increased by 4.4% in the 13 weeks to 29 January.

"Following a solid Christmas trading period, which saw like-for-like retail sales of 9.3% in December, there has been a slowdown in the last three weeks of January," the group explained in a company statement

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Total third quarter sales at SuperGroup rose 25.3% during what it described as a mixed quarter. Retail sales rose 27.8% while wholesale sales were up 17.8%.

Chief executive officer Julian Dunkerton said, "Whilst we continue to expand our retail, wholesale and internet businesses, our focus in the coming year will be on rolling out our new ranges in the UK and internationally and making improvements to the operational side of our business."

The group, which issued a profit warning in October last year following problems upgrading an IT systems at a warehouse, said its UK store roll-out continues.

Four new stores opened during the quarter, including one floor at the group's Regent Street flagship store. SuperGroup now trades from 76 UK standalone stores and 74 concessions.