Burberry's profit slumps 34% as luxury demand slows

BRITAIN’S Burberry reported a 34 per cent drop in annual operating profit on Wednesday (May 15) after it faced the challenge of repositioning its brand to take it more upmarket against a backdrop of slowing luxury demand.

It said its like-for-like sales fell 12 per cent in the final quarter, wiping out gains made earlier in the year.

Chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd said that while the financial results underperformed the company’s original expectations, it had made good progress refocusing its brand.

“We are using what we have learned over the past year to fine tune our approach, while adapting to the external environment,” he said, adding that he remained confident Burberry could be the “Modern British Luxury” brand.

He said Burberry expected the first half of its current financial year to remain challenging, but it expected to see the benefit of the actions it was taking from the second half. REUTERS