British luxury goods group Burberry posted a shallower-than-expected fall in second-quarter underlying revenue today and signalled an improvement in some of its second-half sales trends.
The 153-year-old maker of raincoats and handbags said it made revenue of £343 million pounds in the three months ended September 30th, down 5 per cent at constant currencies.
Luxury goods makers have been hit hard in the global recession, but Burberry, known for its camel, red and black check pattern, responded quickly by slashing costs, jobs, stock and range assortments.
After plunging as much as 70 per cent last year, its shares have recovered almost all of their losses, outperforming the DJ Stoxx personal and household goods index by almost 100 percent this year.
Retail revenue rose an underlying 16 per cent, including like-for-like growth of 5 per cent, as double-digit percentage rises in Europe and Asia offset similar sized declines in the United States and Spain.
Burberry said it expected to open around 15 stores over the full year, at the top end of its previous guidance.
Wholesale revenue fell an underlying 21 per cent, while licensing revenue was down 9 per cent.
Burberry said it expected second-half wholesale revenue would fall an underlying 15 per cent and raised its full-year guidance for licensing revenue to a decline of 5 to 10 per cent from a fall of 10 to 15 per cent previously.
Burberry shares, which entered the UK's benchmark FTSE-100 index last month, closed at 537 pence yesterday, valuing the business at about £2.3 billion.
Reuters