Burberry Group plc announces retail sales for the second quarter to date.
Against strong comparatives last year, retail sales growth at constant exchange rates was 6% in the 10 weeks to 8 September 2012. Of this, new space contributed 6% while comparable store sales were unchanged year-on-year, with a deceleration in recent weeks.
Ahead of the key retail trading period in the second half, Burberry currently expects adjusted profit before tax for the twelve months to 31 March 2013 to be around the lower end of market expectations.
Angela Ahrendts, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "As we stated in July, the external environment is becoming more challenging. In this context, second quarter retail sales growth has slowed against historically high comparatives. Given this background, we are tightly managing discretionary costs and taking appropriate actions to protect short term profitability, while continuing to execute on our proven five key strategies."
Founded in 1856, Burberry today remains quintessentially British, with outerwear at its core. Digital luxury positioning and the optimisation across innovative mediums of the trench coat, trademark check and Prorsum knight heritage icons make the brand purer, more compelling and more relevant globally, across genders and generations.
