Dec 15 - SuperGroup, the British company behind the Superdry fashion brand, posted a 69 percent rise in first-half profit and said the early signs of Christmas trading were "very encouraging".

Superdry

"The autumn/winter collection has been well received by our customers in the UK and overseas, and our owned and franchised retail expansion is progressing as planned," the firm said on Wednesday.

It said its wholesale spring/summer order book was strong.

However, the firm did caution that increases in raw material prices may affect gross margins in its next financial year, with margins returning to more normal levels in 2012-13.

SuperGroup, whose clothes are a favourite of celebrities such as David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio and Zac Efron, made an underlying pretax profit of 13.5 million pounds ($21.4 million) in the six months to Oct. 31.

That compares with analysts' consensus forecast of 13.2 million pounds, according to a company poll, and 8.0 million pounds made in the same period last year.

Sales of its trademark T-shirts, hoodies, check shirts and jogging bottoms, increased 65 percent to 90.3 million pounds, driven by new store openings in the UK and expansion of the brand internationally through franchises and wholesale trade.

Shares in SuperGroup have more than trebled since listing at 500 pence in March, making it one of Britain's most successful IPOs this year.

The stock closed Tuesday at 1,630 pence, valuing the business at 1.29 billion pounds.

(Reporting by James Davey, editing by Mark Potter)