27th Feb 2019 08:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Ted Baker PLC on Wednesday said it expects annual profit to come in 8.4% lower than last year, excluding costs related to an ongoing investigation into harassment claims against Founder & Chief Executive Ray Kelvin.
Ted Baker shares were trading down 13% at 1,749.14 pence early Wednesday, the second worst performer in the FTSE 250 index.
The upmarket fashion retailer expects its pretax profit for the year ended January 26 to be GBP63 million, down from GBP68.8 million a year ago.
This is before costs related to Kelvin's external investigation, the collapse of department store chain House of Fraser, and the acquisitions of No Ordinary Shoes Ltd and No Ordinary Shoes USA LLC.
Back in December, Kelvin took a voluntary leave of absence while harassment claims against him are being investigated. He was accused by the company's staff of forced "hugging" and inappropriate touching and comments.
Ted Baker has since then appointed an independent committee and hired Herbert Smith Freehills LLP to conduct an external investigation into the claims.
On Wednesday, Ted Baker said pretax profit has been "adversely affected" by three non-cash impacts, being a GBP2.5 million charge due to foreign exchange movements, costs related to system upgrades and a GBP5 million inventory write-down.
The company however, said its net borrowing position remains in line with expectations.
The retailer will publish its annual results on March 21.
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