Ted Baker bucks High Street trend with strong results

Designer clothing brand Ted Baker (TED.L) posted strong first-half results led by growth in its overseas and online businesses, and raised the interim dividend 13.5 percent.

The fashion retailer, which began as a menswear brand in Glasgow in 1987, said it remained cautious of the second half given the uncertain macroeconomic environment.

"Whilst we have made a good start to the financial year, our results for the full year will be dependent on trading in the second half of the financial year," Ted Baker, which has operations in the UK, the United States, continental Europe, the Middle East and Asia, said in a statement.

Britain's retailers are facing a string of challenges ahead of the crucial Christmas trading period as consumers squeeze spending amid an uncertain economy.

For the 28 weeks ended August 13, pretax profit rose to 8.5 million pounds from 7.5 million pounds last year. Revenue grew 17 percent to 102.8 million pounds.

Ted Baker shares, which have lost 10 percent of their value over the last three months, closed at 688 pence on Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at about 300 million pounds.

(Reporting by Tresa Sherin Morera in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian)