FTSE 350 personal goods: A mixed bag for personal goods

Ted Baker had an impressive year, with its share price soaring 71.5 per cent compared with an average sector rise of 5.9 per cent. It reported a robust 20.9 per cent increase in retail sales in the eight weeks to 5 January, too, which – according to Peel Hunt analyst John Stevenson – equates to roughly an 11 per cent like-for-like sales gain. He added that Ted's global expansion will keep driving double-digit earnings growth and that there's scope for outperformance as stores and markets mature. Last year, it opened new shops in Tokyo and New York and its first in China and Germany.

Chief executive Ray Kelvin said the group will continue to build brand awareness and invest in newer markets. In fact, Ted is planning to open additional stores in Shanghai in the first half of this year. Asia is a region where the company is still in the early stages of developing its brand and image, so it has significant scope to expand there.

That's not the case for Burberry, though, which already has strong brand awareness among Asian consumers. However, the fashion house is still investing in what it says are "under-penetrated" markets, with three larger format stores planned for Shanghai in 2013. Despite a profit warning last year, management remains squarely focused on high-growth emerging markets and plans to unveil eight directly-operated stores this financial year in the Middle East and Latin America, while it's testing concessions in the Americas.

SuperGroup's global expansion marched on, too, and saw its first franchise store open in India, where management is looking to launch even more outlets. International growth is being driven from the Middle East and Asia but, despite plenty of opportunities in the rest of the world, chief executive Julian Dunkerton says the company is also eyeing new store openings in the UK, too.