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Ted Baker's quirky fashions gain favour in North America

LONDON (Reuters) - British designer clothing brand Ted Baker (TED.L) on Tuesday said retail sales were up by just over 20 percent in its first half year, boosted by solid demand at home and a strong performance in North America.

Ted Baker's dresses, suits and shirts, often sporting quirky details such as flowery collars and polka-dotted sleeves, have attracted a big British customer base and demand is growing abroad as it expands across Europe, Asia and North America.

The group said retail sales, which represent three-quarters of total revenue, were up 20.1 percent to 168.2 million pounds ($255 million). Retail sales in North America rose 37.4 percent to 39.1 million pounds.

The retailer, which trades from 416 stores and concessions globally, opened new stores in London, Vancouver, Hong Kong and South Korea over the period, part of plans to expand international sales which were only 7 percent of total turnover a decade ago.

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"Our strategy is to build Ted Baker as a global brand, so a lot of our investment and focus is on growing the business outside the UK," Lindsay Page, Ted Baker's chief operating officer, said.

Page said the international market now accounted for 40 percent of the group's overall sales, growing proportionally by about 2.5 percent a year, and in the next few years he expected it would represent more than half the business.

The company's pretax profit rose 23.4 percent to 17.8 million pounds in the first half.

Ted Baker's shares were down nearly 3 percent by 0941 GMT. They had closed on Monday at 3,278 pence, having risen by almost 49 percent since the start of the year.

Analysts noted that the company had reported weaker retail sales in August.

"Sales in August were adversely impacted by a number of external factors," Ted Baker said in its statement.

But Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said the results were in line with expectations. "In all, today's results continue to underline the company's expected long term growth story," he said.

Ted Baker said second quarter wholesale sales rose 39.1 percent to 58.6 million pounds, and forecast an increase of 25 percent for the full year. It also forecast 16 percent retail sales growth over the year.

Total group revenue for the 28 weeks to Aug. 15 was 226.8 million pounds, a 24.5 percent rise on the year before.

(Reporting by Angus Berwick. Editing by Jane Merriman)