UK-based luxury fashion house Burberry Group has reported that its retail revenue amounted to £458 million (approximately $594.84 million) in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 (Q1 FY25), a significant decrease of 22% compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2024. The company saw its comparable store sales fall by 21%, with all regions except Japan experiencing declines.
British retailer Burberry Group reported a 22% drop in retail revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 25 to £458 million (about $594.84 million), with comparable store sales down 21%. The company's sales fell in all regions except Japan, where strong tourism spending led to a 6% increase. The Asia Pacific, Americas and EMEIA regions all recorded significant declines.
In the Asia Pacific region, sales fell 23 percent. Mainland China recorded a 21 percent drop, South Asia Pacific recorded a significant 38 percent drop and South Korea fell 26 percent. However, Japan bucked the trend with a 6 percent increase, driven by strong tourism spending, particularly from Chinese and other nearby Asian tourists, despite a weak local market. Globally, the Chinese customer group showed resilience and outperformed mainland China as spending was diverted overseas, the company said in its first-quarter trading update.
The Americas region experienced a 23 percent decline, primarily due to lower spending by local customers. The performance of the Americas customer group globally was consistent with the regional trend.
In the Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) region, sales fell 16%, with local spending deteriorating compared to the previous quarter. Tourism spending accounted for just over half of retail revenues but posted a single-digit percentage decline.
Despite these challenges, certain product categories continued to perform well. Outerwear and scarves outperformed globally.
“Our performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 is disappointing. We acted quickly on our creative transition in a luxury market that is proving more challenging than expected. The weakness we highlighted at the start of fiscal 2025 has deepened and, if the current trend persists through our second quarter, we expect to report an operating loss for our first half,” he said. Gerry Murphy, Chairman of Burberry.
Fibre2Fashion (DP) Press Desk
