Burberry has slumped to a loss and axed its dividend for the first half of its financial year as sales at the British luxury house plunged . In its interim results for the 26 weeks to 28 September, the group reported an operating loss of £53m, down from a profit of £223m in the same period last year. The retail group plunged to a loss after sales fell 20 per cent at constant exchange rates during the period.
Burberry also said it would not pay a dividend for the period. Last year, the company declared an interim payout of 18.3p per share.
The results come amid rumours the group is in the crosshairs of peer Moncler, which has reportedly been eyeing up Burberry for some time. Alongside the results, the company announced a new strategic plan, ‘Burberry Forward’ designed to “reignite brand desire, improve our performance and drive long-term value creation.” The company said it would double down on Burberry’s strengths as a British brand and build on the group’s foundations.
Burberry said it has already started to move ahead with the strategic plan, appointing new leaders across its marketing, product merchandising and Americas divisions and laying out plans to remove £40m of costs. The company added that it had also accelerated plans to reduce excess store inventory. However, despite these early changes, Burberry said it was too early to tell if performance in the second half would offset the red ink for the first half of the year.
Joshua Schulman, Burberry’s new.
