Shares in Burberry saw an over eight per cent rise in early trading today, as investors were encouraged by the company’s second-half performance.
Despite reporting an operating loss for its most recent financial year – the first in over a decade – the luxury fashion group managed to offset some of these losses with strong momentum in the latter half of the year, as reported by City AM.
The FTSE 250 firm announced a reported operating loss of £3m for the 52 weeks ending March 2025, alongside an adjusted operating profit of £26m.
Sales experienced a 20 per cent drop in the first half of the year, improving to a five per cent contraction in the second half. Overall, sales fell 12 per cent year on year.
This is a significant decrease from a profit of £418m in its last financial year and £634m in the previous year.
However, Burberry did report an operating profit in the second half of the year.
Burberry Forward starts to yield results
Despite the financial downturn, Burberry stated that it has made “significant progress” with its turnaround plan, Burberry Forward, which was launched last November.
Over the past year, the brand has launched new marketing campaigns featuring actors Olivia Colman and Barry Keoghan, which have helped drive demand for its bestselling outerwear products.
The company also announced plans to cut around 1,700 roles worldwide over the next two years as part of cost reduction efforts.
However, sales in Asia – a crucial market for Burberry – remained low, with a nine per cent drop in the second half and a 25 per cent drop in the first half.
Sales have experienced a significant slowdown over the past two years due to an economic downturn and a shift towards ‘quiet luxury.’
The only region to demonstrate sales growth in the second half of the year was America, with a modest one per cent increase. However, sales in this region plummeted by 21 per cent in the first half.
“There was a glimmer of hope in improving fourth-quarter sales, even if they are still under water,” commented Dan Lane, lead analyst at Robinhood UK.
“The market really rallied behind Burberry when news of a turnaround struck, but it’s been a harder sell since.
“The brand needs to reclaim its own destiny soon if it’s going to be able to establish a consistent brand image now,” he added.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, stated: “Without question, there is some momentum building.”
Hunter further added: “Burberry will want to consign the past year to the history books as soon as possible, when the change of chief executive, suspension of the dividend and first-half loss sent the shares into a tailspin. The group responded immediately and decisively, but the new strategy will take time to filter through.”
