Britain's Superdry sees profit wiped out as new management resets business

LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - British fashion retailer Superdry saw first half profit all but wiped out as its new leadership sought to address what it regards as the missteps of the previous management.

The group, now led by co-founder and chief executive Julian Dunkerton after a boardroom coup in April, said on Thursday it made an underlying pretax profit of 0.2 million pounds ($256,600) in the 26 weeks to Oct. 26 versus 12.9 million pounds in the same period last year.

Revenue fell 11% to 369.1 million pounds, as Dunkerton, also the group's biggest shareholder with an 18.5% stake, tackled "legacy issues" across the business. He is focusing on full price sales and reducing promotional activity. That hurt revenue but is helping gross margins to recover.

Superdry reported a statutory pretax loss of 4.2 million pounds, reflecting exceptional charges, versus a profit of 26.4 million pounds last time.

Dunkerton cautioned it will take two to three years to turn Superdry around. ($1 = 0.7794 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)