ClickAJob News

Luxury goods firm Burberry has reported a 19 per cent rise in total underlying first-half sales, with the company buoyed by the opening of new stores.

In a trading update today the company confirmed that total reported revenue, including currency fluctuations, climbed by 15 per cent to £449 million in the six months to September 30th.

Retail sales, which accounted for 45 per cent of total revenue in the first-half, rose by 5 per cent on an underlying basis.

Meanwhile comparable store sales grew by 11 per cent, with Burberry attributing the rise to strong autumn and winter product designs, "cohesive" advertising campaigns and the more frequent flow of new products to its outlets.

Luxury handbags and women's clothing continued to perform well over the period, said Burberry.

The company also revealed that it had increased its average selling space by 12 per cent year-on-year during the first-half, opening 11 new stores, 13 concessions and two outlets. The increase included six new openings in the United States, four in Italy and ten across Asia.

Burberry expects average selling space across its stores to increase by a further 12 per cent during the second half.

Over the first-half Burberry's wholesale revenue also rose by 16 per cent, with the luxury goods maker forecasting "a further mid-teens percentage increase" for the next six months.

Commenting on the performance Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts said: "Our new luxury outerwear, apparel and non-apparel collections, combined with our compelling marketing campaigns, have again driven demand in both our retail and wholesale channels.

"This performance is consistent with our profit expectations for the full year as we continue to increase our investment in the infrastructure of the business to support this strong growth," she added.