SuperGroup’s share price jumps after brand beats revenue expectations

SuperGroup's share price jumped 4.6 per cent after beating expectations on revenues and earnings. 

Sales at the Superdry parent company were up 12.9 per cent to £486.6m – above analyst consensus, which had tipped that figure at £483.3m – while pre-tax profits were up two per cent to £63.2m. 

 

Underlying earnings per share stood at 59.1p, above the expected 58.61p per share. 

 

Gross margins climbed 120 basis points to 60.9 per cent, as retail revenue jumped 17 per cent and like-for-likes rose 4.8 per cent. Wholesale revenues were up 4.9 per cent. 

 

Net cash generated from operations fell from £77.9m last year to £45.5m for the year ending 25 April, with the year-end cash position at £77.6m, down from £86.2m at the end of the 2014 financial year. 

 

For the first 10 weeks of the current year, revenues were up 34.5 per cent, buoyed by weak comparatives. 

 

SuperGroup – which many had written off as an over-saturated hoody brand – had reinvented itself as a fashion line worth paying attention to, with a revamped line of womenswear and greater range in its menswear. 

 

There has also been some turbulence in its senior team, with the surprise exit of chief operating officer Susanne Given in February, followed just days later by the departure of chief financial officer Shaun Willis, who was ousted after he was declared bankrupt. 

 

Despite those issues, however, the brand has turned in a solid performance. And although it's early days, so far the 2016 financial year looks better, with SuperGroup saying it will deliver underlying profits within expectations. 

 

Chief executive Euan Sutherland said: 

 

"Despite a challenging start to FY15 the business made good progress in the second half of the year, delivering healthy sales growth, developing our infrastructure and continuing to advance our product range as we incorporate extensive customer insight into our design process.

 

The past year has seen substantial progress in building Superdry globally with continued expansion of our owned retail presence in Europe and the buy-back of the US licence.

 

"The joint venture in China with Trendy International Group, announced today, together with an extensive pipeline of new stores in our targeted European markets and continued momentum in e-commerce, provides confidence of continued long-term growth."