Burberry is set to drop out of the FTSE 100 in its quarterly reshuffle, which will be based on market caps as of 2 September. It’s an unfortunate if not surprising turn of events for the UK’s only luxury fashion brand, which has seen its share price drop nearly 75 per cent in the last 16 months. Both shoppers and investors seem to have shunned the retailer, which has attributed its own decline to a “challenging macroeconomic environment” and the unfriendly effect of London’s ‘tourist tax’.
It’s true that luxury retailers across the board have had a hard time in the last year or two, with a slowdown in China and a cost-of-living crisis in Western countries leading to a slump in demand. But a not-insignificant chunk of Burberry’s problems are self-made. Even Kering, which announced an absolutely dismal set of results for the first half of 2024, has only seen its share price drop around 50 per cent in the last 16 months.
Burberry has grappled with an uncertain brand identity as a succession of new leaders have brought a different vision to the brand, causing investors to lose confidence . Marco Gobbetti, who took the reins as CEO in July 2017, played a pivotal role in stabilising the company. But in 2021 he surprised investors when he left the business and was followed by CFO Riccardo Tisci and COO Julie Brown.
Jonathan Akeyord became CEO in 2021, with Joshua Schulman the latest to take the reigns this year. The company has also struggled to strike a balance be.