Riccardo Tisci's new collection boosts Burberry's sales

For its first quarter to June 29, 2019, Burberry Plc reported retail revenue of 498 million pounds compared to 479 pounds same quarter last year, representing a growth of 4 percent at reported FX and 2 percent CER. The company said, comparable store sales increased 4 percent with growth led by new product.

"This was a good quarter in our multi-year journey to transform Burberry. We increased the availability of products designed by Riccardo, while continuing to shift consumer perceptions of our brand and align our network to our new creative vision. The consumer response was very promising, delivering strong growth in our new collections. We are on track with our plans and we confirm our outlook for FY 2020," said Marco Gobbetti, Chief Executive Officer of Burberry in a statement.

Review of Burberry’s first quarter

Burberry added that excellent consumer response to Riccardo Tisci's new collections delivered strong double-digit percentage growth compared to prior year equivalent collections, and the proportion of new product increased to around 50 percent in mainline stores by the end of the quarter.

Among its core geographies, Burberry said, Asia Pacific grew by a high single-digit percentage driven by Mainland China up mid-teens. EMEIA grew by a low-single digit percentage supported by tourist spend, which particularly benefited the UK, while Americas was flat with the US growing by a low-single digit percentage but Canada getting negatively impacted by a later markdown period. Among the product categories, the company further said, men's and women's apparel grew by a double-digit percentage, while accessories declined with the benefit from new styles more than offset by the softer performance of lines from previous collections.

In retail, Burberry said, 23 stores incorporated the new creative vision by the end of the quarter and a cumulative nine of the 38 smaller, non-strategic stores previously announced for rationalisation were closed. In wholesale, the company continued to rationalise space in non-luxury US doors.

Maintaining its outlook for FY20, the company said it continues to expect broadly stable top line and operating margin at CER and anticipates a more pronounced weighting of operating profit in H2 relative to H1 in FY 2020 than in the prior year.

Picture credit:FashionUnited