Ted Baker loss widens as crisis hits sales

Ted Baker's first-half loss widened as the struggling fashion brand's revenue dropped 46% during the Covid-19 crisis.

The company's underlying pretax loss for the 28 weeks to 8 August was £39m compared with £2.7m a year earlier as revenue fell to £169.5m from £313.3m.

Ted Baker's reported pretax loss, including £46m of impairment charges, widened to £86.4m from £23m. The company declared no dividend. The period covered the first coronavirus lockdown in the UK and international markets.

Retail sales including online trading fell 42% to £124m and wholesale business dropped 56% to £39.5m as Ted Baker stores closed and its trade customers came under pressure. Ecommerce sales rose 42% to £74.2m.

Ted Baker was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic when it was already in a self-made crisis of falling sales, accounting errors and boardroom upheaval. The company gave Chief Executive Rachel Osborne the job of turning round its fortunes in March after allegations of misconduct forced the departure of founder Ray Kelvin.

Osborne has cut jobs to reduce costs while hiring new people to revive Ted Baker's brand. The company increased its estimate for annual cost savings to £31m from £27m predicted in July. Net cash of £60.8m at the end of August was "well ahead" of management expectations, she 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," Osborne said. "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."