Burberry – a good start to the year

Burberry, the British luxury fashion house, has released its first quarter results:

• Like-for-like sales in store increased 18% including a strong recovery in Mainland China (up 46%)
• Outerwear sales up 36%, leather goods up 13%
• Near and medium-term targets unchanged – with double-digit revenue growth expected in FY24 and around 20% operating margins

 Charlie Huggins, Manager of the Quality Shares Portfolio at Wealth Club, commented:

“This is a good start to the year for Burberry with strong sales growth, helped by an excellent recovery in China following last year’s COVID-19 related lockdowns.

Encouragingly, it isn’t just China driving the growth, with strength in South Asia Pacific, EMEIA and Japan also contributing. This suggests Burberry has seen a good early response to brand elevation efforts and new designs.

The Americas however remained weak, with sales down 8% suggesting Burberry has more to do in this region to catch up with European rivals.

Looking to the medium to longer term, Burberry’s success will hinge on the success of new chief executive, Jonathan Akeroyd’s strategy to turn around the struggling luxury fashion house. This will take some time to judge, but the early signs are encouraging.