Jewellery retailer, Lovisa, says its overseas stores are becoming star operators and it has plans for further global expansion.

The company was established in 2010 and currently operates 239 stores in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

Australia is its main market, but it closed 20 local stores in the year to June which were a legacy from an earlier acquisition, while expanding almost all of its offshore operations.

“The overseas markets generally enjoy lower costs of doing business, and in FY15, 11 of our top 20 stores ranked by store contribution were outside Australia,” it said.

Lovisa made a profit of $17.6 million in 2014/15, ahead of the forecasts it made ahead of listing on the share market in December, and it expects growth in 2015/16.

Revenue increased by 27.1 per cent to $134.3 million, an increase of $28.6 million, or 27 per cent, from FY14 and like for like sales were up 8.2 per cent.

The company operates 80 stores outside Australia, recently adding 21 stores in South Africa. It is currently researching which markets to enter next – company owned stores, franchises and joint ventures are all on the table.

In Australia, Lovisa has recently introduced its “third generation” store design, and will be undertaking around 40 store refurbishments in FY16 at a total cost of $3.9 million.

AAP