SuperGroup warns on profit as gets maths wrong

LONDON - SuperGroup, the British company behind the Superdry fashion brand, warned on year profit again, this time blaming "arithmetic errors" and timing issues in its wholesale business as well as lower margins in its retail business.

The firm, whose clothes are a favourite of celebrities such as David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio and Zac Efron, said on Friday it expected pretax profit of about 43 million pounds for the year to April 29.

In February the firm had forecast an outcome of about 50 million pounds.

SuperGroup said arithmetic errors in its forecast of the wholesale business amounted to 2.5 million pounds, while 2.0 million pounds of wholesale sales were now expected to be pushed into the 2012/13 year.

A further 2 million pounds shortfall was attributed to the mix of sales through its various retail channels impacting margins as well as an increase in operating costs.

The firm said retail sales were in line with expectations and the factors identified would have a minimal impact on projections for the 2012/13 year.

SuperGroup issued a profit warning last October. That one was blamed on the botched implementation of a warehouse IT system upgrade that left stores short of stock.