Bench still in fashion, says HgCapital

18th Mar 2011 14:53

Americana, the Mancunian clothing group behind the Bench fashion label, continued to grow sales and earnings in the six months to 31 December, according to its private equity backer.Germany in particular was a good market for Americana, said HgCapital Trust, which owns 45% of the business. HgCapital also reported an improvement in the overall private equity market.It said activity returned to pre-economic crisis levels last year as it posted a 22.8% return on investments, beating the FTSE All-Share Index by 8.3%."2010 was an active year for HgCapital Trust and one in which we made strong progress towards our strategic goals," it said "Following a quiet year for realisations in 2009, the total value of realisations to the Trust was over £82m, marking a return to the levels achieved on average over the period 2006-8."Prospects look favourable for the coming year, he said.HgCapital's other investments include the Cornish pasty retailer Cornish Bakehouse and the German toy manufacturer Schleich.