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Ted Baker suffers but Zara still smart
25.03.09
Clothing chains Ted Baker and Zara today proved that bargain-hunting is in vogue.
Pre-tax profits at the more expensive Ted Baker sank by 19.5% to £17.8 million for the year to the end of January, as wholesale sales dropped by 12.2% and it wrote down the value of some of its underperforming stores.
"It is a solid performance considering how difficult the market is," chief executive Ray Kelvin said. Although profits for the year ending January 2010 are expected be below this year's, Kelvin said: "I think we have hit the bottom now." Ted Baker kept its final dividend at 11.4p.
Meanwhile, Inditex, Europe's biggest clothing retailer, which owns cheaper fashion chain Zara, reported a 2% rise in underlying earnings for 2008 to €2.19 billion (£2 billion).
Like-for-like sales were flat but margins were squeezed as the group cut prices to tempt shoppers to splash out.
