Last year’s performance isn’t hurting Ted Baker's (TED) shares, but rather what lies ahead. It was a dismal week for retailers – despite the upbeat note struck by the Office for National Statistics retail sales bulletin – and Ted has been faced with an uphill climb in light of the gloomy weather and an early Easter. This has forced analysts at Peel Hunt to trim FY2019 forecasts, following management’s cue that profit is likely to grow at the lower end of the previously guided 10 to 12 per cent range. The broker now expects pre-tax profit of £81m for the year ending January 2019, giving EPS of 142p, compared with £73.5m and 127p in FY2018.
But this shouldn’t detract from the fact that Ted grew pre-tax profit by 12 per cent last year, a direct result of strong retail revenue and stable margins. E-commerce remains a particularly impressive area, with online sales up a whopping 39.8 per cent to more than £101m. This year, group margins could slide by around 50 basis points, but finance director Charles Anderson admits this is a “cautious projection” and still reflects a “very good margin” relative to the rest of the sector.
| TED BAKER (TED) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 2,718p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.21bn | |
| TOUCH: | 2,710-2,724p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 3,244p | LOW: 2,286p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.2% | PE RATIO: | 23 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 503p | NET DEBT: | 50% | |
| Year to 27 Jan | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 322 | 38.9 | 67.2 | 33.7 |
| 2015 | 388 | 48.8 | 82.0 | 40.3 |
| 2016 | 456 | 58.7 | 101 | 47.8 |
| 2017 | 531 | 61.3 | 106 | 53.6 |
| 2018 | 592 | 68.8 | 119 | 60.1 |
| % change | +11 | +12 | +13 | +12 |
| Ex-div: | 17 May | |||
| Payment: | 22 Jun |
