Luxury fashion group Burberry has clothed some stylish figures over the years – supermodels, royalty, actors and singers have all sported the iconic tartan designs.
The latest figures to benefit from Burberry’s dashing look are their share prices – climbing 6% after announcing a svelte sales increase of 33% for the last quarter.
The news comes ahead of the release of their annual profit figures, predicted to be at the top end of the £250–290m market expectations.
The Americas posted like-for-like sales in double figures and likewise in Europe, where the UK and France were draped in praise.
Founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry, early products were designed for outdoor wear. The 1920s saw the advent of its iconic checks, which for a time more recently became associated with hooligans and ‘chav’ culture, leading to a dip in fortunes. It responded to the global downturn by taking sharp scissors to its European folds, cutting 300 jobs in Barcelona, shutting its Rotherham factory and discontinuing its younger Thomas Burberry line, as part of a £50m cost-efficiency drive.
Substantial rebranding saw Burberry reappear in Vogue and other up-market publications and, now wearing a global perspective, it aims for a 12–13% increase in retail selling space in the coming year, primarily focusing on commercial property outside the UK, but no doubt there will be some movement here as well.
In China, where like-for-like sales increased by more than 30%, it intends to double its franchise store commercial property portfolio from 50 to 100 stores.
In five years time, the company anticipates the Asia-Pacific to be the source of half its sales.
Latin America and the Middle East are other regions expected to see a Burberry-clad interest in its commercial property.
Commercial property in London is also set to benefit from Burberry’s success – its plans to ‘aggressively re-invest’ ahead of the Olympics were reported.
