Ted Baker slips deeper into the red as revenues fall

For the 28 weeks to August 8, 2020, the fashion brand reported underlying losses before tax deepening to £39m, while group revenue fell 45.9% to £169.5m. 

Overall retail sales also slipped 42.2% during the period to £124m, while wholesale revenues dropped 55.7% to £39.5m.

The retailer blamed its deepening losses on falling revenues and Covid-19 costs, and said falling sales were primarily due to enforced store closures due to the pandemic. 

In a bright spot for the period, the retailer saw ecommerce sales grow 41.8% to £74.2m, while directly managed ecommerce channels saw 56% growth. 

Despite tough results, Ted Baker said its £60.8m net cash position as of August 28 was well ahead of expectations and insisted its three-year strategic transformation programme was on track. 

Launched in June 2020, ‘Ted’s Growth Formula’ was designed to refresh its senior leadership group, recapitalise the retailer, review its operations, cut costs and put new controls in place. 

The retailer said it was on track to deliver rent savings of £7m and a further £20m in savings from rents being moved to turnover-based agreements. 

Ted Baker chief executive Rachel Osborne said: “This has been an unprecedented period for Ted Baker and today’s interim results clearly show both the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the steps we have taken to reset the business.

“I believe that these actions and the early progress we have made with Ted’s Growth Formula mean we now have the right foundations in place for the future.

“Even with some of our legacy issues being amplified by Covid-19, our balance sheet is materially stronger than we had envisaged this early in the plan and operational cashflow will be positive for the full-year.

“At the same time, we have strengthened our leadership team, made good progress against our brand, product and digital ambitions, and are on track or ahead of our operational KPIs for the first year of our plan.

“While these are still very early days in Ted’s transformation, and the economic outlook remains uncertain, we are confident that we have the right strategy and team in place and that we are setting the business up for future success.”