LONDON – What a difference a year makes.
Burberry’s focus on simplification, productivity and cash flow helped to narrow the double-digit sales declines of past months, with the company reporting 433 million pounds in retail revenue, a 6 percent drop at reported exchange, and a 2 percent decline at constant rates in the first fiscal quarter.
That compares with double-digit declines last summer, when the board brought in executive Josh Schulman to steady the ship, and initiate a turnaround.
Friday’s first-quarter trading update offers early proof that Schulman’s approach has been working. Comparable store sales were down 1 percent compared with 21 percent in the corresponding period last year, with improvement across all regions, and the Americas and EMEIA region showing positive growth.
The Americas region was up 4 percent, followed by EMEIA, or Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, which rose 1 percent. Greater China was down 5 percent, while Asia-Pacific fell 4 percent in the three months to June 30.
Schulman said that over the past 12 months, Burberry has moved from stabilizing the business to driving Burberry Forward, its growth plan, with confidence.
“The improvement in our first quarter comparable sales, strength in our core categories, and uptick in brand desirability gives us conviction in the path ahead. Our autumn 2025 collection is being well received by a broad range of luxury customers as it arrives in stores,” he said.
Schulman added: “Although the external environment remains challenging and we are still in the early stages of our transformation, we are encouraged by the initial progress we are starting to see.”
Looking ahead to the full 2025-26 year, Burberry stressed that it’s still in the early stages of the turnaround, which has been taking place in a macroeconomic environment that remains uncertain.
“Our focus this year is to build on the early progress we have made in reigniting brand desire as a key requisite to growing the topline,” the company said, adding that in the first half, it will continue to prioritize investment.
It plans to deliver margin improvement “with a continued focus on simplification, productivity and cash flow. We remain confident that we are positioning the business for a return to sustainable, profitable growth.”