Driven by over a 20% rise in wholesale sales, revenues ascended 15.9% year-on-year at UK-based SuperGroup Plc, which manages the Superdry fashion brand in its first fiscal quarter ended July 26, 2014.
SuperGroup said that during the first fiscal quarter, it continued to deliver double-digit sales growth across all its primary channels resulting in total sales for the period increasing by 15.9% to £87 million from the first fiscal quarter of 2013.
It added that the Group's new retail warehousing operation and merchandising management system are performing to plan, underpinning the growth strategy.
Division wise, retail sales in the first fiscal quarter were up 13.6% from a year earlier to reach £60.4 million. "As anticipated", SuperGroup admitted, "like-for-like sales in the first fiscal quarter were down 3.7% against a very strong hike of 8.5% the company reported in the first quarter last year."
According to SuperGroup, like-for-like performance continued to be affected by the issues that impacted the fourth quarter, which included shortages of key spring summer lines and a highly competitive market place.
It added, "In line with our growth strategy, new store openings were predominantly in mainland Europe and we added a net 13,000 square feet to our portfolio in the quarter, including a large-format store in Marseille and a smaller one in the Alpine resort of Kitzbuhel, Austria."
The new store pipeline remains strong, Super Group said, especially in Germany where 6 stores, including the German flagship in Munich, are due to open before the close of the calendar year.
The wholesale division posted a massive hike of 21.6% in first quarter of 2014 sales to touch £26.6 million.
SuperGroup said, "The order book for A/W 2014-15 has now closed and initial indications are that orders have increased by 10%, against tough comparatives".
"The quantum of orders is in line with expectations and this is the fourth consecutive season of double-digit growth, with overseas orders outperforming the more mature UK market", it added.
SuperGroup continued to extend the global reach of its Superdry brand, having opened further franchise stores in France, Spain, Portugal, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia during the quarter under review.
CEO Julian Dunkerton said, "With our strong pipeline of new stores, particularly in mainland Europe, the continued evolution of the ranges and our improved infrastructure we remain confident that we have the platform to deliver profitable growth in the current year."
Since the first Superdry store opening in 2004, SuperGroup has grown rapidly and now operates 526 branded locations of which there are 96 owned stores and 64 concessions in the UK.
