Supergroup opens up to silence its critics

The group behind the Superdry brand saw its shares climb 7pc on Wednesday as it unveiled a 4pc increase in like-for-like sales in the half year to the end of October and said its operational issues were a thing of the past.

The group, which floated at 500p in March 2010 and subsequently saw its shares climb as high as £18.10, has been hit in recent months by warehouse problems and questions over whether its products will fall out of fashion. Supergroup was forced to issue a profits warning in October after warehouse problems led to a lack of the right clothing reaching stores.

"It was a difficult blip and we're through it," said chief executive Julian Dunkerton, before explaining his decision to report like-for-like numbers. "It puts to bed all of the silly things said about the brand. I felt it was necessary to stop people drawing the wrong conclusions. The brand is very much alive."

Mr Dunkerton said the group's new store on Regent Street – which will be partly open for Christmas – would act as a "shot in the arm" and as a consequence Supergroup would consider whether to alter its expansion plans.

"We're assessing what kind of stores and where we're going to open. Is it going to be largest stores and slightly less of them?" he said. "Regent Street is a game changer because it will expand our range of products."

The shares rose 35½ to 538p as pre-tax profits rose 39pc to £20.3m.