B urberry has been in the doghouse for the past year. The 168-year-old company has suffered amid a wider downturn in the luxury fashion industry and struggled to warm investors to its project to revamp the brand. But shares in the FTSE 250 group bounced last week — they are now more than 50 per cent higher than their lows in September — after its new chief executive laid out a fresh strategic plan.
Figures for the first half of its financial year were brutal. Revenue fell 22 per cent to £1.1 billion in the six months to September 28, compared with the first half of last year, dragged down by weaker performance in the US and Asia.
The group recorded a pre-tax loss of £80 million for the period, against a £219 million profit last time, some of that loss being down to a £29 million charge for unsold inventory. Net debt stood at £278 million, compared with £63 million net cash a year ago..