SuperGroup starts strongly as group sales jump by a quarter

LONDON, England - SuperGroup, the British company behind the Superdry fashion brand, said group sales in the first three months of the year had jumped by a quarter and that it was confident of meeting full-year expectations.

The firm said total sales of its trademark T-shirts, hooded tops and jogging bottoms rose 25.7 percent to 75 million pounds ($117 million) in the 13 weeks to July 28. That compares to growth of 15.3 percent in the final quarter of the previous year.

Retail sales rose 17.6 percent, with sales from stores open at least a year up 8.5 percent. Wholesale sales rose by half, though the firm said a 26 percent uplift year-on-year in its order book for autumn/winter 2013 was a better indicator of the unit's performance.

"We have started the year in fine form," Chief Executive Julian Dunkerton said on Thursday. "This performance coupled with our continuing international expansion ... gives me confidence in our ability to continue to meet expectations."

The group said on average analysts expected it to deliver a full-year pretax profit of 60 million pounds.

Superdry is sold in over 50 countries through the group's franchised and licensed network and in over 100 countries via its websites. Recently, it has stepped up its overseas push, buying its Spanish distributor, and signing a partnership deal in Turkey and a distribution agreement in Malaysia and Singapore.

At home, recent data has also suggested that the country's improving economy is giving confidence to squeezed shoppers. British retail sales were 3.6 percent higher in August than a year ago.

Shares in the firm closed on Wednesday at 1159 pence, up 91 percent on six months ago, valuing the business at around 930 million pounds. ($1 = 0.6399 British pounds)