Burberry fashions bumper results on Covid recovery

Burberry net profit almost tripled and revenues soared to pre-pandemic levels in its first half as economies recovered from Covid, the British luxury fashion house said Thursday.

Profit after tax jumped to £144.9 million ($198 million, 171 million euros) in the six months to late September compared with a year earlier, Burberry said in a statement.

Revenues surged by about 40 percent to just over £1.2 billion on the post-Covid economic recovery.

“We have made strong progress in the half,” said chairman Gerry Murphy.

“We are seeing an acceleration in performance in countries less impacted by travel restrictions.”

Sales growth was particularly strong in the Americas, mainland China and South Korea, the company said.

Burberry cautioned, however, that other regions were “under pressure from reduced tourist levels” owing to rising Covid cases.

As a result, the group’s share price slid 5.5 percent on London’s rising stock market.

“With international long-haul tourists still few and far between, Burberry’s European stores continue to struggle –- dependent as they are on well-heeled travellers for a large slice of their sales,” noted Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Nicholas Hyett.