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A consumer watchdog group says major retailers should concentrate on improving services instead of applying GST to goods bought from overseas-based websites. REUTERS

British retailer SuperGroup Plc (LSE: SGP.L), the owner of Superdry brand, reported a 86 percent rise in pretax profit for the first half on strong sales growth at its retail and wholesale segments. But, the British fashion retailer warned rising raw material prices may affect gross margins in the next financial year.

The fashion retailer, formerly DKH Clothing Plc, said its recent Autumn/Winter range and the new store fit-out are delivering improved business performance and profitability.

The early signs of Christmas trading are very encouraging and we are well positioned to capitalise on the remainder of this busy trading period, the company said.

SuperGroup expects its margins to return to more normal levels by fiscal year 2013.

For the six months ended Oct.31, SuperGroup posted a pretax profit of 14.6 million pounds, compared with 7.8 million pounds in the same period of last year. Sales surged 65 percent to 90.3 million pounds ($142 million).

Retail sales went up 71.7 percent to 54.4 million million pounds, driven by the ongoing successful roll-out in the UK. Wholesale sales rose 56 percent to 35.9 million pounds, due to international expansion.

SuperGroup currently has 59 standalone Cult and Superdry retail stores, 69 concessions and a large number of Wholesale relationships.

Shares of SuperGroup ended Tuesday's trading at 1,628 pence on the London Stock Exchange, below its post-IPO high of 1,660 pence, set on Monday.

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