British fashion chain SuperGroup makes move into China

LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - SuperGroup (Other OTC: SEPGY - news) , the British company behind the Superdry fashion brand, said it had signed a joint venture deal to enter the Chinese market, as it posted a small rise in annual profit.

The firm, whose trademark jackets, hooded tops and jogging bottoms are popular with teenagers and twentysomethings, said on Thursday it had struck a 10-year deal with Chinese retailer Trendy International Group, which will manage day-to-day operations while SuperGroup focuses on brands and marketing.

SuperGroup said underlying pretax profit for the year to April 25 rose 2 percent to 63.2 million pounds ($97.4 million), within its guided range of 60-65 million pounds, on revenue up 12.9 percent at 486.6 million pounds.

The firm, which has over 135 European stores and sells goods globally via concessions and online, said trading in its new fiscal year had started well, albeit against a weak comparative period, with like-for-like retail sales up 20.3 percent in the first 10 weeks.

($1 = 0.6488 pounds) (Reporting by Neil Maidment; Editing by Pravin Char)