File photo of silver leather oxfords by Ted Baker.Yvonne Berg/The Globe and Mail
Ted Baker is planning to further its international expansion, opening its first store in Canada and adding to its outlets in China.
The British fashion label reported a 22.1-per-cent rise in group revenue for the 13 weeks to Nov. 10, compared with the same period last year.
Retail sales were up 24.6 per cent and wholesale sales increased 14.2 per cent, helped by growth in the U.K. and U.S. wholesale operations.
This has been a year of international expansion for Ted Baker, which opened its first store in Beijing and created a presence in Germany, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands.
In the past three months it has also opened further concessions in outlets of Bloomingdale's in the U.S., although Hurricane Sandy disrupted this somewhat with some stores in New York being forced to close temporarily.
Average retail square footage rose by 13.7 per cent over the period to 269,942 sq. ft.
Ray Kelvin, founder and chief executive officer, said the company would open its first store in Toronto as well as shops in Shanghai and a new outlet at Heathrow Terminal 3 in London in coming months.
"We are very encouraged by the reaction to the brand and the collections in our new markets, where we are investing for the longer-term development of the brand," he added.
Lindsay Page, Ted Baker's finance director, said the move into Canada was a logical extension from the northeast of the US. "We get a lot of Canadian shoppers in the American stores, which is an indication that this will be a good market for us."
Sanjay Vidyarthi, an analyst at Espirito Santo Investment Bank, said the growth in Europe was encouraging given the difficult economic conditions there. "Over all, the Ted Baker growth story remains well on track in a year of significant investment," he said.
The company plans to make its next trading statement, covering the key Christmas period, in mid January.