Shares in Supergroup (LSE: SGP) saw an initial spike in early trade, up about 3%, but have since fallen back down to around their closing price yesterday. This activity comes after the fashion retailer released its Q2 trading update for 2013.
As you might suspect from the share price movement, the report was favourable but didn’t surprise the market. Total group sales lifted by 18.5% to £116.6m in the quarter, in line with management expectations. H1 group sales increased by 21.1% to £191.6m.
The owner of the SuperDry brand announced that it opened three new stores in the UK during the quarter, and acquired two third-party franchise stores, while it added a store in Belgium and one in the Aeroville out-of-town development north of Paris to its European roster.
Julian Dunkerton, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We have delivered another strong trading performance, which has seen good sales growth in both the Retail and Wholesale divisions. At the same time as delivering revenue growth we continue to build the platform to support our strategy and I am pleased to report that the Group remains on track with its infrastructure investments.
“E-commerce sales from Europe and the Rest of the World have now overtaken those from the UK reinforcing our view of the international appeal of the Superdry brand, an important step in delivering our international strategy.
“Our trading performance, the positive customer reaction to new product ranges and the preparation ahead of peak trading, provides me with confidence in our ability to meet market expectations.”
Supergroup’s shares have now risen over 80% since January, beating the FTSE 100 by around 60%, bringing much cheer to its shareholders.
