Supergroup's fourth quarter disappoints

Young fashion brand Superdry said like-for-like retail sales were flat in the 13 weeks to 29 April 2012 in what it described as a "disappointing end" to a challenging year.

Wholesale sales rose 4.4% while the underlying wholesale growth rate was around 9%. Retail sales in the final quarter increased by 24.7%.

Superdry said it had been hurt by the challenging retail environment and slow-down in sales from stand-alone stores and concessions. The group added a further three standalone stores to its portfolio in the quarter, bringing the total to 79.

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Superdry said its online performance continues to be strong.

It added growth at its wholesale business was hurt by the annualisation of the SuperGroup Europe acquisition and the continued expansion of the UK Retail business as well as delays to franchise stock shipments, as outlined in its April profit warning.

Supergroup said there has been no change to its full year profit guidance of around £43m given on 20 April 2012 following a string of "arithmetic errors".

Last month the retailer flagged up mistakes in its forecast of the wholesale business's performance, a timing issue on the pull-down of stock, squeezed margins and increased operating costs, resulting in its third profit warning since October.

Chief executive officer Julian Dunkerton commented: "Although the fourth quarter has been a disappointing end to a challenging year, the brand remains strong and this, together with the group's investments in key senior personnel and system infrastructure, provides a solid platform for the coming financial year."

CJ