Burberry laid low by coronavirus

BURBERRY warned the coronavirus outbreak is hitting sales in China and it has shut more than a third of its stores.

Twenty-four of the fashion brand’s 64 stores in China are closed, while those that remain open are operating with reduced hours and suffering ‘significant’ declines in customer numbers.

The company, which has launched a new advertising campaign with top models Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid ( pictured), also warned that tourist spending at its European shops was expected ‘to worsen over the coming weeks’ as more nations imposed travel restrictions on Chinese tourists.

‘We are taking mitigating actions and every precaution to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees,’ said Burberry chief executive Marco Gobbetti last night. The firm said that it will provide an update on trading following the end of its financial year in March, effectively throwing out guidance it made before the outbreak that its current year would see revenues rise by ‘a low single digit percentage’.

Neil Wilson, of Markets, said the fourth quarter was looking like ‘a wreck on the catwalk’.

Since coronavirus cases first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late

December, it has killed more than 500 people and infected over 28,000, spreading across the globe to countries including Britain, the United States and Australia.

Burberry is not the only brand suffering from the outbreak, with Versace and Michael Kors owner Capri Holdings warning that revenues for its 2020 financial year will take a hit of $100m (£77.3m) from the closure of 150 of its 225 Chinese stores.

Coffee chain Starbucks has also warned that its earnings could be at risk from the epidemic after it was forced to close half of its 4,300 Chinese shops at the end of last month.