Ted Baker swings to £70.4m loss in tumultuous year

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Fashion retailer Ted Baker swung to a full-year loss, as sales were hit by heavy discounting blamed on weak consumer spending and a shift to online channels.

The company also wrote down the value of its inventory.

Pre-tax losses for the year through 25 January amounted to £70.4m, compared to a profit of £24.5m on-year. Revenue fell 1.4% to £630.5m.

Ted Baker had overhauled its senior management in a turbulent year that included a 'forced hugging' scandal.

On Monday, it said it had restated the balance of its inventory to £205.6m, back from £205.6m.

The restatement was due to 'inappropriate cost values being attributed to inventory, inventory reflected on the balance sheet which did not physically exist and intercompany profit in stock that was not adjusted for in previous calculations'.

Ted Baker said it had also reviewed its approach to estimating the carrying value of stock and adopted 'a more prudent methodology', which resulted in a £32.4m reduction in stock value.

In addition, the company booked one-off expenses of £16.2m related to impairment of store assets, £7.6m related to losses on the disposal of its Asian business and £6.5m for legal and professional costs.

'The board recognises that last year's performance was disappointing for all of Ted Baker's stakeholders, reflecting a challenging external environment as well as significant internal disruption, driven by a number of senior leadership departures,' Ted Baker said.

As part of a restructure plan, the company said it would sell and lease back its head office and conduct an operational efficiency review.

Medium term targets out to the 2023 financial year included revenue growth of around 5% and an operating earnings margin of 7-10% in the 2023 financial year.

'Today we are excited to launch 'Ted's Formula for Growth', a comprehensive strategy for the Ted Baker brand which is supported by a significant recapitalisation of the business, that strengthens our position and enables us to both execute that transformation, and navigate through the disruption caused by Covid-19,' chief executive Rachel Osborne said.

'The Ted Baker brand is much loved, it has a unique personality and character built up over many decades, and that provides us with a remarkably strong foundation from which to continue our international growth.'

'Over the past six months our new executive team have pulled together and undertaken a thorough review of the business, identified key opportunities and acted decisively in a number of areas.'