Group revenues at British based fashion brand & retailer Burberry grew 21 per cent year-on-year to £574 million last quarter, with retail operations generating 70 per cent of that figure.
According to results released today, retail sales increased 13 per cent in comparable stores in the three months to December 31st 2011, with its stores in the Asia Pacific region delivering the strongest growth.
Operations in Europe also defied the general trend of squeezed consumer finances, with the region delivering a 20 per cent jump in underlying revenue growth, and due to huge demand the firm was even able to improve its margins.
Asia and the Middle East continued to be the main driver for sales across the group, and Burberry continued to invest in its international presence by expanding retail selling space by 13 per cent over the quarter with further store openings to come.
Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts commented: “Burberry has delivered another strong performance, with a 21 per cent increase in revenue in this important third quarter.
“Our investment in flagship markets and digital technology has enabled our global teams to continue to drive customer engagement, enhance retail disciplines and improve operational effectiveness, further strengthening brand momentum.
“Looking ahead, we remain focused on executing our proven core strategies to achieve long-term sustainable growth, while staying mindful of the challenging macro environment.”
While wholesale revenue jumped 15 per cent over the three months and licensing revenue rose 12 per cent, retail was once again the engine room for Burberry, with a comparable store sales growth in China of 30 per cent particularly impressive.
Demand for quality British fashion goods in emerging economies remains strong and Simon Chinn, Lead Consultant at retail analyst group Conlumino, points out that travelling Chinese tourist are increasingly buying fashion items in international shopping hubs such as London.
He argues that Burberry has benefitted from this ‘Peking Pound‘ phenomenon but has also worked hard to maximise revenues from other parts of its business.
“In the world of global luxury fashion, Burberry stands ahead of the pack in terms of its embracement of new social media tools to drum up demand and appetite for its latest designs,” Chinn said.
“As an example it recently displayed its latest catwalk images on a Twitter ‘Tweetwalk‘. With over ten million Facebook fans and growing demand for its products from the next generation of high spending tech savvy luxury tourists, Burberry‘s brand momentum is only likely to grow stronger.”
