Trendy fashion brand Superdry accelerates its expansion as sales grow

Supergroup, the British company behind fashion firm Superdry, today said it had accelerated its expansion by opening a record number of stores abroad in the last quarter.
Sales at SuperGroup, which claims to be one of the fastest growing fashion retailers, grew 68.4 per cent to £57.5 million in the three months 31 October, compared with 60 per cent in the previous quarter.
‘These figures really demonstrate the solid progress we are making as a brand and as a retail company. The autumn range has been well received by the public and our roll-out is on track both in the UK and internationally,’ said Chief Executive Julian Dunkerton.

Trendy: Celebrities such as as David Beckham,  Leonardo Dicaprio and Zac Efron wear Superdry clothes

The retailer, whose brand clothes are worn by the likes of David Beckham,  Leonardo Dicaprio and Zac Efron, opened a record 14 franchise stores overseas in the quarter, including its first in the United Arab Emirates, bringing the total to 49. Franchise stores can be found in Australia, South Korea, America, France and Belgium.
It also opened eight stores in the UK and a further 13 concessions in House of Fraser. More stores are planned to open before Christmas, including in the Trafford Centre in Manchester, Westfield Centre in London and a 15,000 sq ft store in Glasgow.
SuperGroup's brands include Superdry and Cult shops, and so-called 'incubator brands' SurfCo California and 77Breed and it runs 55 stand-alone stores, 69 concessions in House of Fraser and a website.

 

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The business began life on a market stall in Cheltenham more than 20 years ago but floated nearly a third of the business in March to fund growth - triggering a huge windfall for directors including founder Julian Dunkerton.
SuperGroup's shares have more than doubled since the flotation, giving the company a market value of around £950 million.
It made £26.5 million in pre-tax profits in the year to May 2 - nearly £1 million ahead of its guidance in May and dwarfing the previous year's £7.9 million.
Brand and design director James Holder, who started the Bench clothing label, and wholesale and international head Theo Karpathios both own 19.8 per cent of the company.
SuperGroup has developed out of the Cult Clothing shop that was set up by Mr Dunkerton following the success of his market stall.
He launched the Superdry brand six years ago with Mr Holder, 38, and the group has become famous for its mix of preppy and street wear designs, spanning for example jackets, t-shirts, jeans, jogging bottoms and hoodies.
Analysts at Seymour Pierce today upped their target price for its shares from £13 to £15 and said the company should be valued more in line with ASOS, the internet retailer. Its shares rose by 2 per cent to 1195p following the announcement.