BEIJING: A sharp sales slowdown in China led Britain’s Burberry to miss forecasts for first-half sales growth and warn of an increasingly challenging environment for luxury sales.
The firm said accelerated actions to control costs were expected to minimize the impact on profit for its 2015-16 year and it expected to meet the average forecast of those analysts who have recently updated forecasts, which is 445 million pounds (US$689.22 million). Burberry made 456 million pounds in 2014-15.
Chinese shoppers, which account for 30-40 percent of Burberry’s global revenue, have grown increasingly cautious this year after the country’s economy weakened, its currency devalued and its stock market tumbled.
The 159-year-old Burberry, famous for its British-made trench coats and cashmere scarves, yesterday said retail revenue rose 2 percent to 774 million pounds in the six months to September 30.
That compared with first-quarter rise of 8 percent and was below analysts’ average forecast of 818 million pounds.
First-half comparable store sales growth was 1 percent versus analysts’ consensus of 5 percent and growth of 6 percent in the first quarter.
The firm saw a mid single-digit percentage fall in comparable store sales in Asia-Pacific.
