Burberry President Resigns

Burberry, who last week reported a rise in profits, have stated J. O'Neill, president worldwide, has resigned as a director of the company with effect from July 1. A replacement has not yet been named.

Since joining Burberry in November 2001, O'Neill's primary focus has been on developing the management team and strategy of the company's operations in Asia.

www.burberry.com
20 April 2004

Burberry On Check For Sales

Burberry reported a 14 per cent growth in retail sales for the first three months of the year. The group stated sales in the UK were picking up after a slow Christmas. While Japan and the US account for the biggest growth, sales in the UK have been improving in the last quarter.

Retail sales were up 14 per cent in the three months to 31 March (the end of their financial year) against 11 per cent in the third quarter. Wholesale sales increased 16 per cent in the second half.

www.burberry.com
14 April 2004

Burberry To Bid For Laura Ashley

Burberry chief executive Rose Marie Bravo is believed to be looking at a bid for store chain Laura Ashley. Bravo has told close friends she is considering a number of options and is keen to take on a new challenge. According to one source, Bravo has sounded our private equity firm KKR about a deal to buy Laura Ashley.

www.burberry.com
> more Laura Ashley news on FashionUnited
24 February 2004

Burberry Checked Too Often

There has been an overdose of press lately concerning British fashion empire Burberry. While you either love it or hate it, everybody seems to have an opinion on the signature-checked house. It's almost as if the UK's most successful fashion house, having conquered the globe with stores in 17 countries, is receiving minimal support from it's homeland.

While the image in our heads of a women clad in a Burberry skirt and Burberry jacket hauling a Burberry-clad baby out of a Burberry wrapped buggy is rather tiring, the label's marketing men no doubt feel the message was interpreted in much the wrong way. Dare we even mention in an unfashionable way. The tongue-in-cheek advertising of mixing supermodels with aristocracy initially made the brand appeal to both the Bridget Jones's and the Mommies and didn't tread on the toes of the older customer.

Raymond Boyle, a lecturer at Stirling University and a specialist in popular culture, says: "Burberry is a brand established for the elite and the affluent, which has rapidly expanded. At some point someone in the marketing department said: 'If we can bring it slightly downmarket, we can increase the sales.' But the result is that it gets picked up by popular culture and swept away. It's worn by celebs, over-worn by neds, then there is a fashion backlash against it."

Since the appointment of Rose Marie Bravo in 1997, the brand, once appealing only to matronly types of older upper class ladies, made it's way to Kate Moss in a brilliant advertising campaign and the company's value was raised from GBP200 million to GBP2.4 billion.

Today the signature-look check is no doubt over-exposed in Britain and has been absent from the fashion pack's wardrobes for a while. Still, Burberry is by no means a sleepy label, and the company, which has reduced its check to 15 per cent of the collection, is gaining success with the fashionable Prorsum Collection, designed by Chris Bailey. Hailed as the new Tom Ford, his spring/summer 04 collection has been heralded by the press and is the one to watch for next season.

www.burberry.com
4 December 2003

Burberry's week

Burberry this week is set to report another stellar profits rise and speculation is mounting that it will be spun off from parent GUS. Burberry is expected to show earnings before tax up by 17 per cent to £321m, driven by shop sales.

High street sales are expected to show a slowdown this week, causing further worries for retailers in the run-up to Christmas. Official sales data due on Thursday are likely to show a slowing in growth from 0.6 per cent in September to 0.3 per cent last month.

17 November 2003
www.burberry.com

Burberry associations

Wearing a classic Burberry raincoat, Humphrey Bogart strolled nonchalantly into Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. But that was in 1942. These days, however, he would probably be turned away at the door.

One female oil worker was aghast when she was banned from a restaurant/bar in Aberdeen for having a distinctive check designer umbrella and handbag. She said last night: "I was going for a drink with my husband at around 10.20pm on Saturday and was told I couldn't get in because I was wearing Burberry.

"The door staff said Burberry was associated with soccer casuals, but there's no way I resembled that. I was furious because I was dressed perfectly smartly. It was a Burberry handbag and umbrella, for goodness sake." The Filling Station could be accused of taking its ban too far by most people's standards. Yet efforts by Rose Marie Bravo, the brand's chief executive, to make the label more accessible may be fuelling a Burberry backlash, as an increasing number of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs across Scotland ban its designs.

Previously aspirational, the brand has evolved into an anarchic uniform adopted by football hooligan culture and other troublemakers. Like Aquascutum, Evisu, and Stone Island, Burberry has fallen foul of tribal hijacking - the moment when a brand becomes the badge of belonging to a particular group that is not part of its target market.

An internet joke doing the rounds described a Burberry-clad Mini Metro as the ultimate car for Glasgow neds.

Alan Bannerman, owner of the Phoenix bar in Dundee city centre, said: "I fully appreciate where other publicans are coming from. If a young man walks in with a shaved head and a Burberry cap and shirt, I wouldn't think twice about whether he was trouble. I believe I speak for at least 90% of pub owners in Dundee. Burberry has become the badge of thuggery."
Thomas Burberry opened his first shop in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in 1856. The signature check began as a lining for his ivory trench coats, which are still a best-seller today.

Once viewed as rather traditional and stuffy, the fashion house is now a catwalk regular. Celebrity wearers include Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, and Robbie Williams. However, there is evidence the brand is creeping into overkill and the realm of street wear with gangs of youths favouring the Burberry baseball cap. Doll's pram, cot, and high-chair sets in an imitation of the check can be bought at Argos.

12 November 2003
www.burberry.com

Burberry Goes Global

Luxury brand Burberry is planning to open six or seven stores a year internationally after a rise in sales.

The company, which last week issued a trading statement for the ix months to the end of September, said wholesale sales had risen 14 per cent and retail sales were up 20 per cent.

The rise in sales was boosted by new stores and the acquisition of Burberry's distributor in Korea. In the first half of the year Burberry opened three new stores, in Milan, Virginia and Las Vegas. A further six stores will be opened in the second half including Burberry's fist in Russia. The Moscow store, which opens early next year, will be run by designer distributor Jamilco, which also operates stores for Dior, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.

The US, in particular has been a strong performer, partly due to the New York 57th Street flagship raising the brand's profile.

Burberry has also seen a revival in trading in Asian markets previously affected by the SARS virus.

www.burberry.com
21 October 2003

Burberry expands in emerging markets

Burberry is to open its first Russian boutique in Moscow in early 2004. The two-story store will be operated through Russian franchisee Jamilco. "Burberry sees Russia as an exciting growth market [as] all emerging markets have a large appetite for luxury brands," a Burberry spokesperson said. "We chose Russia because we have had a good response from Russian consumers who have travelled to markets abroad, like in the US."

Burberry intends to continue to look at expansion in other Eastern Europe markets, such as Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in the mid-term. In addition, Burberry will open new stores in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Melbourne, Australia in October. Burberry has also announced plans to unveil a second Tokyo, Japan flagship in spring 2004.

17 October 2003
www.burberry.com

Burberry: H1 sales rise seventeen percent

British fashion label Burberry posted seventeen percent first-half sales growth this week, confirming it was on track to hit results forecasts.

Burberry, famous for its trademark beige check, said total revenues for the period hit 321 million pounds, driven by double-digit increases in all its main business areas. Outgoing Chief Financial Officer Mike Metcalf said that, while it was too early to assume that the effects on luxury markets of the SARS pandemic and the Iraq war were over, many of the key luxury markets were recovering.

The group's strongest growth driver is currently the United States, where the "Brit" fragrance was recently reported by department store Bloomingdale's as its most successful perfume launch ever. Furthermore, retail sales increased twenty percent on an underlying basis, driven partly by new store openings.

The company's expansion programme continues, with new outlets including a 5,000 square foot store in Moscow scheduled to open in early 2004. Wholesale sales were 14 percent higher, reflecting double-digit growth for the autumn/winter 2003 season and what the company called "solid growth across all regions".

October 16, 2003
www.reuters.com

English Heritage Becomes Fashionable

Whoever said English tradition is frumpy and out of date, can rest assured our treasured heritage is making its way into high fashion. This is evident when no-one other than Miuccia Prada was inspired by the bold geometric designs of traditional mens-outfitters Holliday & Browne, and adapted the great prints for her collection.

Bill Amberg quickly followed suit, and is printing sixties Heal's fabric designs onto limited edition leather bags called Library Totes. It's a canny way for designers to tap into vintage without getting literal, treating reissue prints with fun rather than reverence.

At Burberry Prorsum, Chris Bailey has taken timeless English countryside scenes, as seen on a thousands headscarves, and subverted them. Look closely at the print mac… Among the ducks in the pond are Range Rovers and bespectacled matrons in quilted jack and sturdy boots. It's the new modern classic!

For a proper British classic look one could try Aquascutum or Gieves & Hawkes. Mind you, you can't get more British than wearing those wellies on a windy day in the countryside!

13 August 2003
www.burberry.com

Burberry Bucks Challenging Start

Burberry says new stores have helped increase sales in the first quarter after a challenging start to the year.

The group said contributions from nine new outlets opened in the last year had increased retail sales by approximately 21% in the three months to June 30. Burberry, which has 70 stores world-wide, partially floated on the London Stock Exchange last July and was spun out from majority stakeholder, Argos owner GUS, through a share offering.

Chief Executive Rose Marie Bravo has been credited with reviving the brand's popularity. Total revenues in the first quarter increased 18%, or 17% excluding the group's acquisition last July of a distributor in Korea, against the same period last year. Total retail sales increased by 33%, boosted by the Korea acquisition, and accounted for about 53% of total revenues in the quarter.

Comparable store sales, which declined modestly during the first seven weeks of the period, benefited from a strong summer promotional period and recorded a marginal gain for the quarter as a whole. After the costs of its share offering, which included £22 million to set up employee share ownership plans, Burberry posted pre-tax profits of £85.1 million for the year to March 31, against £84.8 million the year before.

Ms Bravo received an annual salary of about £920,000 last year plus a performance related bonus and share options.

15 July 2003
www.burberry.com

Burberry Boss Faces Investor Revolt

Rose Marie Bravo, Britain's highest paid female executive, is facing a showdown with investors in Burrbery over her GBP 12.4m termination contract.

Bravo has been informed that the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) is recommending to fund managers that they vote against the retailer at its annual meeting on July 15.

Bravo has nearly quadrupled shareholder value and turned a near basket case into a GBP 1b business, said one observer.

GUS, the retail group, is the majority shareholder in Burberry, so there is no chance of the vote being lots. But it is unusual for the NAPF to recommend a vote against a company, as was reported in the Sunday Times. And, there are concerns that, if the publicity surrounding the annual meeting gets too much, Bravo will consider quitting. Who would take the check, then?

30 June 2003
www.burberry.com

Burberry Chief Gets GBP 5.74 m

Rose Marie Bravo, chief executive at luxury goods group Burberry took home GBP 5.74m in payments last year. That makes her one of Britain's best paid women.

Bravo was entitled to an additional 100 per cent of her $1.5m basic salary in bonuses based on performance, but missed targets and made $1.3m instead.

Burberry has said the company beat market expectations for the year to March 31, but its internal operating profit targets were tougher, accounting for the bonus shortfall.

Burberry performed well last year, but trading has been affected by the Iraq war and the impact of the Sars virus in east Asia.

Ms Bravo joined Burberry five years ago from Saks Fifth Avenue. She has since rejuvenated Burberry as a luxury brand and was granted a 1 per cent holding in the company.

16 June 2003
www.burberry.com

Burberry Results Strong

Burberry´s share price dipped following a results announcement that retail growth was "modestly negative" since March. The business registered strong pre-tax profits of GBP 113.8m on turnover up 19 per cent to GBP 593.6m for the year to March 31st.

Trading was hit by the Sars virus and economic uncertainty, but Burberry said it would hit the GBP 124m profit consensus for next year, providing trading conditions picked up.

5 June 2003
www.burberry.com

Check out of Burberry

Burberry has had a good, if slightly bumpy run, since being spun out of GUS last year. Rose Marie Bravo, the chief executive of Burberry, appears to have defied critics who dismissed the brand as a fashion fad and one-season wonder.

Last week the company announced that sales had increased 19 per cent to GBP593.6m for the 12 months to 31 March. Pre-tax profits were up at GBP85.1 m The share price fell on the back of a disappointing trading update, which warned that sales had been hit by the SARS epidemic, war in Iraq and fear of terrorism.

Analysts argue that Burberry should in fact be trading at a 20 per cent discount to rivals such as Gucci given its focus on clothing, which generates lower margins than accessories, and the magnitude of its wholesale business, which makes brand management difficult.

Burberry's Prorsum label, which accounts for only small percentage of its revenue and is overseen by creative director Christopher Bailey, is trying to move away from its continued dependence on its check designs.

26 May 2003
www.burberry.com

Thomas Burberry Returns

British luxury clothing company Burberry Group plc will relaunch the Thomas Burberry clothing brand in the UK for the autumn/winter season.

Distribution of the brand, known for its cross-flag logo, is presently limited to Spain and Portugal. From August this year though, the brand will be available in UK stores like harrods, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Urban Outfitters.

Thomas Burberry may also be launched in other European countries at a later stage. The brand targets men and woman aged 18 to 25 and "represents the Burberry's British heritage and sporting history", the company said.

May 21, 2003
www.burberry.com

Strong Q3 for Burberry

Burberry Group plc on Monday reported strong performances across the business for its third quarter ended December 2002. Total revenues increased by 33% and retail sales were up 32% on an underlying basis, driven by existing and new store performance. The company expects a high single digit wholesale sales growth for the Spring/Summer 2003 season

Commenting on the trading results, Rose Marie Bravo, Chief Executive, stated, “The Company’s strong performance in the third quarter reflects the strength of the Burberry brand and continued execution of our key growth initiatives by product, channel and region. Particularly notable is the performance of our directly operated stores in a challenging trading environment. These results confirm that the business remains on track to deliver on the objectives we set at the time of the IPO.”

Licensing

Total licensing revenues in the quarter increased by 9% (7% on an underlying basis). As anticipated, royalties from the Japanese market reflected single-digit volume gains as well as increases in certain royalty rates. This volume gain is encouraging in light of the exceptional growth achieved in the comparable period last year and the lacklustre economic environment.

January 14, 2002
www.burberry.com

Burberry and J-Lo head list of 2002 Marketing Coups

Burberry and J-Lo are two of the most successful business leaders of this year, according to the Lochhead Corporation. This strategic growth consulting firm, last Monday unveiled the first annual list of Marketing Coups. While many companies hunkered down and just tried to make it through this tough year, the Lochhead list recognizes a few visionary business leaders, spanning a cross-section of industries, who managed to rise above the clatter, and capitalize on new growth opportunities with shrewd marketing coups.

According to the Lochhead Corporation, Burberry has achieved what only some have accomplished in the very best economy, and transformed itself from stodgy to trendy and created the "accessible luxury" category. The IPO of Burberry Group PLC in July 2002 reportedly raised $440 million and operating profits for the six months ending September 30 of the same year reached $87 million, a nearly 30 percent increase from a year earlier.

Jennifer Lopez is also to be found in the first list of Marketing Coups. This golden girl captured the attention and imagination of a global audience with rapid-fire lightning strikes that included everything from launching a new clothing and perfume line, album, movie, restaurant and engagement during this past year -- not to the numerous magazine covers and high profile television interviews. Other winners are IBM and Mini Cooper.

January 3, 2002
www.burberry.com

Burberry posts strong numbers

Burberry, which made its trading debut four months ago, has turned in a strong half-year performance by posting a 32-percent jump in earnings. Burberry beat expectations this week with profits before deductions of GBP 55.1 million, up from GBP 41.6 million for the previous April-to-September period. Analysts had forecast first-half earnings of about GBP 50 million.

Rose Marie Bravo, Chief Executive, stated, "Burberry's encouraging performance in the first half was driven by continued execution of our strategic agenda in key product categories, targeted geographies and distribution channels. The dedication of our management team, the efforts of our licensee partners and the support of our wholesale customers underpinned this achievement. This strong financial performance is notable in light of the challenging trading environment."

It was the group's first interim results since it began trading as a separately listed company on July 12. Great Universal Stores previously owned Burberry.

The company said first-half revenues rose 15 percent to GBP 271 million as it reaps the rewards of a five-year style reinvention under Chief Executive Rose Marie Bravo. Retail sales increased by 32 percent.

November 20, 2002
www.burberry.com

H1 Burberry profits up 15%

Luxury fashion brand Burberry Group Plc reported a total revenue increase by 15% for its first half ended September 30, 2002. Retail sales were up by 17%, and the company said it expects its Spring/Summer 2002/03 order book to show single-digit growth. Burberry opened five new stores in this period, including a flagship store in Barcelona, three Burberry stores in London, Hong Kong and Florida as well as one outlet store. It will open its first store in Italy in late 2003.

Wholesale sales increased eight per cent, or four per cent on an underlying basis reflecting earlier shipments of autumn product, while licensing revenue jumped 14 per cent driven by strong volume growth in Japan.

Licensing revenue is up 14% which was driven by a strong volume growth in Japan. In a statement commenting on the trading results, Rose Marie Bravo, Chief Executive, said, “Burberry’s performance in the first half was on track, driven by growth in key product categories, targeted geographies and distribution channels. These results were particularly notable given the trading conditions. Moving into the second half, we remain confident in our strategies while mindful of the difficult and uncertain environment.”

Burberry will announce its interim results on November 19, 2002 and provide a trading update on third quarter sales on January 13, 2003.

October 15, 2002
www.burberry.com

GUS to float Burberry by June

Reported sales at Burberry in the second half were 9% above last year and 5% up on an underlying basis. This was despite the impact of September 11 that adversely affected many luxury goods companies. The flotation of 25 per cent of luxury brand Burberry is scheduled for June.

Retail sales in the second half were slightly up on an underlying basis compared to the same period last year, with a resilient performance from the US. Following new store openings in Beverly Hills and Soho, New York during the second half, a further ten new and replacement stores are planned to open in the current financial year. These include flagship stores in New York, Knightsbridge and Barcelona.

With the Spring/Summer order book now substantially delivered, underlying growth of 6% in the second half in Burberry's Wholesale operations was in line with previous indications. The Wholesale order book for Autumn/Winter 2002 to date suggests that sales should be broadly in line with those of a year ago. Within this, sluggish demand from travel-related clients and the Spanish domestic market is being offset by strong demand in the US.

Royalty revenue in the second half was 10% ahead at constant exchange rates, reflecting double-digit volume growth in Japan.

In March 2002, Burberry signed an agreement to acquire its Korean distribution business. It expects to complete this acquisition in July 2002. The initial cost will be about £25m and the deal is expected to add approximately £5m to operating profit in its first full financial year. With this agreement, Burberry has now taken direct control of the distribution of its core products in all key international markets, with the exception of Japan where its renewed licensing arrangements are adding significantly to profits.

"GUS has completed another successful year, with a particularly strong performance from Argos Retail Group. This has been despite difficult trading conditions in some of our markets. We are looking forward to the coming year with confidence."

Experian
Experian's total worldwide sales for the second half increased by 5%.

FARES, the real estate information joint venture, had another strong half, benefiting from the strength of the re-mortgage market. Sales of this associate are not included in Experian's revenues.

Argos Retail Group
Against a background of good consumer demand, Argos' strong performance continued with its Spring/Summer catalogue launched in January. For the second half, sales at Argos, excluding Argos Additions and jungle.com, increased by 17% and by 13% on a like-for-like basis over the same period last year. Sales were particularly strong in consumer electronics, electricals, furniture and toys. Gross margins remained firm.

Reality
Sales to external customers were marginally up in the second half. Core logistics sales to third parties were ahead by over 10%.

16-4-2002
www.gus.co.uk