La Senza plans further foreign stores after opening in Iceland

Lingerie retailer La Senza plans to expand in Europe next year after its first store outside the UK and Ireland opened last week.

La Senza made its debut in Iceland, with a store in Reykjavik, and has also signed an agreement for a German store.

Group director Malcolm Cooke said discussions are under way to open about six stores next year outside the UK. He would not comment on which other European countries the retailer is targeting.

‘We’ve been opening stores on a regular basis. We expect to have five or six (licensed) stores in Europe next year, as well as an additional eight to 10 UK openings,’ said Cooke.

For the year to March 2004, La Senza is predicting a pre-tax profit of about £14 million from £9 million a year earlier, on sales of £100 million.

Since it was bought from Canadian La Senza in 1998, with losses of £10 million, chairman Theo Paphitis has redefined the customer, targeting a core market aged 20- to 35-years old.

He has also attributed the turnaround to a new IT and merchandising system, as well as taking control of the warehousing and distribution, which were previously subcontracted.

La Senza has 72 standalone stores, 14 concessions with Debenhams and 4 concessions within Roches stores in Southern Ireland.